Israel has a new name at the center of its coalition talks. On Sunday, November 8, President Isaac Herzog formally handed Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party and a former military chief of staff, the mandate to try to form the country’s next government. It is a striking moment: the task went to a challenger rather than to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose Likud remains the largest single party in the incoming Knesset.

This explainer sticks to what has been reported by The Jerusalem Post and Ynet, and walks through why Herzog made the call and what comes next.

Why Eisenkot got the first shot

After an election, Israel’s president consults every party that won seats and then picks the lawmaker he believes has the best chance of winning a confidence vote. According to Herzog, representatives of 67 incoming members of Knesset recommended Eisenkot, while 46 recommended Netanyahu. One faction with seven seats recommended no one.

Herzog openly acknowledged that Likud is the biggest party, but said previous presidents had several times given the mandate to a leader whose party was not the largest. In his view, Eisenkot had “clear and unequivocal support” from a majority on the key question of who could actually form a government.

The election itself ended in deadlock. Reporting from The Jerusalem Post says Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats and the opposition bloc 48, with the Arab parties Ra’am and the Joint List winning a combined 19. Both Arab parties recommended Eisenkot, though a recommendation does not commit them to join his coalition.

The clock: 28 days, plus a possible 14

Receiving the mandate does not make anyone prime minister. It starts a countdown. Eisenkot now has 28 days to put together a coalition that can win a Knesset majority, and Herzog can extend that by up to 14 days if needed.

If he fails, the law gives the president three days to decide whether to hand the task to someone else. A second candidate would get 28 days with no extension. If that also fails, a majority of at least 61 lawmakers can ask the president to give the job to a specific member, who would then have 14 days. If every route fails, the Knesset dissolves and Israelis go back to the polls. Until a new government is sworn in, the outgoing one stays on in a caretaker role.

What Eisenkot is promising

At the ceremony in Jerusalem, Eisenkot warned that Israeli democracy is at “one of the most vulnerable moments” it has known and called for leadership “that people can look in the eye and trust.” He has repeatedly called for a “national emergency government” built on four principles he has laid out, and said “unconventional steps” would be needed to get there.

He also invited two parties from the opposing camp, Likud and Religious Zionism, to join a government he would lead, with conditions attached. Ynet reports that even if he reaches an agreement quickly, he does not plan to swear in a government this week.

The obstacles in his way

Building a majority will not be simple. Netanyahu has revived his own call for a “national unity government” made up of right-wing and Zionist parties, which Eisenkot’s party dismissed as political spin unless Likud cuts ties with its far-right partners.

Meanwhile, Avigdor Liberman, leader of Yisrael Beytenu and a potential partner for any anti-Netanyahu coalition, said publicly that he will not support a minority government that depends on the Arab parties. Eisenkot was expected to meet former prime minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday evening and Liberman on Monday, so those conversations will be closely watched.

Why it matters beyond Israel

Herzog framed the stakes in terms of security and diplomacy, pointing to the threat from Iran, the Gaza ceasefire plan and possible talks with Lebanon. Whoever forms the next government will shape Israel’s approach to all of those issues, which is why capitals far beyond Jerusalem are paying attention to the coming weeks of negotiation.

The bottom line

Eisenkot has the first chance, a clear numerical edge in recommendations and a month to turn that into a working coalition. The biggest questions now are whether parties with very different views can agree to sit together, and whether Netanyahu’s unity pitch peels anyone away. Expect a lot of meetings, a lot of public positioning and possibly a request for that 14-day extension.

Image: Knesset Israeli Parliament Building (41404889170) by Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0