Eisenkot Pledges 'Emergency Government' as Trump Seeks to End Netanyahu Era
Press coverage 3 newspapers covered this event: Al-Anba · Al-Jarida · Al-Nahar →Israeli President Tasks Yesh Atid Leader with Forming Government After 67 MKs Recommend Him
Translated by Qiyas from النهار — Original source
Occupied Jerusalem – Agencies: Israeli President Isaac Herzog has tasked Yesh Atid party leader Gadi Eizenkot, the strongest rival of outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with forming a new government. A statement from Herzog’s office said, “The President informed Yesh Atid party leader Gadi Eizenkot of his intention to entrust him with forming a new government.” Following the appointment, Eizenkot, who served as Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces between 2015 and 2019, said he would do everything in his power to form a new government in Israel. He wrote on the X platform, “Now is the time to form a national emergency government. I will do whatever is necessary to ensure we meet this responsibility.”
Eizenkot received recommendations from parties representing 67 members of the 120-seat Knesset (the Israeli parliament), compared to only 46 members whose parties recommended entrusting Netanyahu’s bloc with forming the government.
In a related development, Israeli Channel 12 reported that individuals close to US President Donald Trump conveyed a message to associates of Eizenkot, urging him to expedite the formation of the new government and replace Netanyahu. The channel, citing unnamed sources, said the message was delivered to Eizenkot’s associates before he officially received the mandate from President Herzog to form a government.
After receiving the mandate from Herzog, Eizenkot will have 28 days to form a government, with the possibility of a 14-day extension. If Eizenkot fails, another candidate may attempt to form a government; if that candidate also fails, the parliament can name another candidate. The total timeframe for this process is approximately 100 days. If no one succeeds, new elections will be held.
The mandate comes after elections that did not provide a clear path to power for either Eizenkot or Netanyahu.
On the Arab front, Haaretz reported that an official from the United Arab List expressed readiness to support an Eizenkot government even without reaching a formal coalition agreement. This stance carries political significance given the complex parliamentary calculations facing the designated candidate, as Arab support could be decisive in securing the majority needed to grant the new government confidence or provide a parliamentary safety net allowing it to continue, even if Arab parties do not directly participate in the governing coalition.
The two Arab lists, the Joint List and the United Arab List, won 19 seats, giving their positions significant weight in the calculations surrounding the formation of the new government.
Yesh Atid, led by Eizenkot, has invited members of Netanyahu’s Likud party and its allies to join a coalition under his leadership. Yesh Atid wrote on X, “If Likud and its allies are suddenly interested in unity and forming an expanded government, they are invited to declare the dissolution of their alliance with extremists... and their readiness to join a government headed by Eizenkot.”
