Israel’s new parliament convened on Tuesday (November 10, 2026) with plans to take aim immediately at caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as his rival Gadi Eisenkot vowed to quickly cobble together a new government.
Mr. Eisenkot, leading a broad left-to-right bloc, will control the agenda from the outset in the new parliament with the help of Israeli-Arab parties, although neither he nor the right-wing Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving Prime Minister, hold a majority on their own.
“I am committed in this complex situation to form a national-emergency government as quickly as possible,” Eisenkot, a 66-year-old former military chief who only recently entered politics, said before his swearing-in.
President Isaac Herzog, ceremonially opening the session, called on all sides to work together and avoid a fresh election in a deeply polarised country weary from three years of war.
“Nearly 80% of the people went to the polls and elected you. You must do everything to avoid a repeat election,” Mr. Herzog said.
“Reach out a hand for compromise, even between rivals.”
Mr. Eisenkot’s allies hope to use their newfound legislative power to move rapidly on key priorities, including a commission to investigate security failures under Netanyahu that allowed the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, the deadliest day in Israel’s history.
Mr. Herzog on Sunday (November 8, 2026) gave Mr. Eisenkot the initial mandate to form a government, starting the clock for him to piece together a coalition within 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension.
Hours before the opening of the Parliament, known as the Knesset, Mr. Eisenkot’s party announced agreements on key people to replace allies of Mr. Netanyahu, who has been in and out of office for nearly 20 years.
Mr. Eisenkot’s bloc announced it had the votes to install as parliament speaker Matan Kahana, a former senior military figure who clashed with ultra-Orthodox Jews during a past stint in government.
Avigdor Liberman, a right-wing member of Eisenkot’s bloc who has played a key role in deciding who can enter the government, will be nominated as chair of the foreign affairs and defence committee.
Arab-Israeli lawmakers said they would support Kahana, all but guaranteeing he will take the helm in the parliament.
Parties representing the Arab minority — descendants of Palestinians who stayed after Israel’s creation in 1948 — won a record number of seats in the October 27 election on the back of anger at Netanyahu’s hard-right government.
But Eisenkot needs 61 votes — a majority — to become Prime Minister. Mr. Liberman has made clear that he will refuse to join a government that relies on Arab-Israelis, even if they stay out of the coalition and prop it up from the outside.
“A minority government would only lead to the return of Netanyahu with 70 members of the Knesset,” Mr. Liberman told reporters.
Arab-Israeli lawmakers under fire
Mr. Netanyahu has accused Arab-Israeli parties of supporting Hamas and accepting foreign funding, allegations the lawmakers deny and call smear tactics.
Mr. Liberman, a former aide to Mr. Netanyahu turned critic who shares hawkish views, said he would use his new position to investigate allegations of foreign funding to the parties.
Entering parliament, Mansour Abbas, leader of the Israeli-Arab party Raam, rejected Mr. Netanyahu’s accusations of fraud by Israeli-Arab parties and pointed out that Netanyahu faces corruption charges that could land him in jail if he loses power.
“We will keep up the process of replacing the government,” Mr. Abbas told reporters. “We aspire to be part of the solution.”
Mr. Abbas confirmed he supports a two-state solution with the Palestinians, a stance shared by neither Mr. Netanyahu nor Mr. Eisenkot, who has sought to appeal to the centre.
Shunning Arab-Israelis, Mr. Liberman has instead proposed an alliance with ultra-Orthodox Jews, despite his years of bitter denunciations of the community for its singular priority on maintaining an exemption from mandatory military service.
Mr. Eisenkot’s core bloc has 48 seats, but would achieve a majority if the 19 Arab-Israeli lawmakers either enter the government or, more likely, vote for it without joining.
The two ultra-Orthodox parties hold 13 seats. United Torah Judaism, which has seven, has stopped short of recommitting to Netanyahu, leaving him with 46 seats.
An alliance with either the ultra-Orthodox or Arab-Israelis would likely be fragile, with a small number of lawmakers able to bring Eisenkot down over their particular concerns.
Published – November 10, 2026 09:43 pm IST
