Israel’s former military chief Gadi Eisenkot started the tough task on Sunday (November 8, 2026) of forming a government, reaching out to Benjamin Netanyahu’s allies as he warned the veteran Prime Minister had brought the country to a historic crisis.
Mr. Eisenkot, 66, a political novice who has vowed to bridge Israel’s deep polarisation under Mr. Netanyahu, formally received a mandate from President Isaac Herzog, giving him 28 days to form a government despite his bloc lacking a clear majority.
“We are in a state of emergency, approaching a point of no return for the State of Israel,” Mr. Eisenkot, who had traded his usual all black for a suit and tie, said at a ceremony at the Presidential office.
“We must form a national emergency government. This will require creative and unconventional political steps.”
Mr. Eisenkot, born to a family of working-class Moroccan immigrants, would be the first Sephardic Prime Minister — a community mostly descended from West Asian or North African Jews — in a country long dominated by an Ashkenazi elite with ties to Europe.
Mr. Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving Prime Minister, having led the country on and off for nearly two decades. He has taken the country in a sharply rightward direction and led wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran since the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas.
Both Mr. Eisenkot and Mr. Herzog acknowledged Israel’s growing isolation under Mr. Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court.
In the United States, the most vital ally of Israel, Democrats on Tuesday (November 3, 2026) swept elections with calls to rein in Israel after the devastation in Gaza and the unpopular Iran war which Mr. Netanyahu launched with President Donald Trump.
“We are in the midst of a devastating diplomatic crisis. Even our closest friends and strategic allies are saying their relationship with Israel must be reassessed,” Mr. Eisenkot said.
Mr. Eisenkot appealed to Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud Party as well as the far-right party of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to join — but only with himself as Prime Minister.
“My door is open and my hand is extended, wholeheartedly and willingly, to anyone who understands the gravity of this moment,” he said.
Wooing the ultra-Orthodox
In consultations last week with Mr. Herzog, Mr. Eisenkot received recommendations from parties accounting for 67 lawmakers, against 46 for Mr. Netanyahu.
But that vote count included Israeli Arabs, whose seat haul surged to a historic high on anger over Mr. Netanyahu’s government and whom several parties oppose having in government.
Avigdor Liberman, a former Netanyahu aide turned sharp critic who nonetheless shares his hawkish views, has been adamant against any alliance with Arab Israelis, who are descendants of Palestinians who stayed after Israel’s creation in 1948.
Taking back one of his signature campaign pledges, Mr. Liberman instead voiced an openness to an alliance with ultra-Orthodox Jews, whose almost singular priority is ensuring that they remain exempt from military service.
The exemption for the ultra-Orthodox — whose two main parties had been aligned with Mr. Netanyahu but could push Mr. Eisenkot to a majority — has been a source of growing resentment for many Israelis as reservists fight on multiple tours of duty.
Mr. Liberman said on Sunday (November 8, 2026) he still backed conscription for all Israelis but that he had to make “difficult decisions” for the higher priority of ousting Mr. Netanyahu, who faces corruption charges that could land him in jail if he loses power.
Naftali Bennett, the second strongest opposition leader after Mr. Liberman, has also been outspoken against the ultra-Orthodox community’s military exemption and has stayed quiet since Mr. Liberman’s about-face.
Fragile power
Mr. Eisenkot has appeared to suggest he is willing to start off with a minority government — relying on outside votes from Arab-Israeli parties — before bringing other lawmakers into his coalition.
Assaf Shapira, a political expert at the Israel Democracy Institute, said Mr. Eisenkot would face an exceptionally fragile government if it only had 48 lawmakers in the 120-member parliament, with extensive negotiations needed on every piece of legislation.
Mr. Eisenkot has vowed to put an end to rampant violence against Palestinians by extremist West Bank settlers supported by Mr. Netanyahu’s government and has warned that the incumbent premier does not have the mandate for another attack on Iran.
But he has largely backed Mr. Netanyahu’s war decisions and as military chief during the 2006 Lebanon war advocated massive force against civilian infrastructure where enemies operate, a policy critics say amounts to a war crime.
In Tel Aviv, Neri Bar-On, who works in educational technology, said he expected Mr. Eisenkot to succeed in forming a government.
“But the problems run deeper,” he said.
“The country is facing a massive internal conflict; even if he manages to form a government, it won’t solve the underlying issues.”
Published – November 08, 2026 11:01 pm IST
