Forming a government in Israel: Netanyahu's rival gets his chance

In a ceremony at his residence on Sunday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog formally gave the mandate to form a government to the main opponent of the previous Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Gadi Eisenkot. Jashar party leader now has 28 days, with a possible extension of another 14 days, to put together a governing coalition that has a majority of at least 61 of the 120 members of the Knesset.

The fact that Eisenkot receives the mandate does not mean that he can fulfill it. He accepted it and wrote that he was ready to form a “national emergency government”. Behind his four principles for a coalition - recognition of Israel as a Jewish democratic state, recognition of the values ​​of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, compulsory military service for all and classification of Hamas as a terrorist organization that must be dismantled - only his "Change Bloc" of Zionist opposition parties with 48 seats stands. The Joint List and the Arab Ra'am party, which together hold 19 seats, support the government's mandate for Eisenkot, but none of the parties in it recognize all of its four principles.

In a phone call with Herzog, Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas refused to label Hamas a terrorist organization, citing fear for his family's safety and opposition to Arab parties being expected to test their loyalty. However, Ra'am would vote for an Eisenkot-led minority government. The “Joint List” also does not want to become part of an Eisenkot coalition, but would not be in opposition to it either.

The main problem now is Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisra’el Beitenu party, which is mostly elected by secular voters of Russian origin. Without their seven seats, neither Eisenkot nor Netanyahu has a majority. Historically, Lieberman has been an opponent of both religious-nationalist and ultra-Orthodox parties, with which Netanyahu most recently governed. Before the elections, however, he also rejected cooperation with Arab parties. During the election campaign, he called for conscription for ultra-Orthodox and public transport on the Sabbath. But after the election, he said he was open to compromise. He also speaks out against any minority government or government alliance with Arab parties. According to the newspaper Ha'aretz, Arab party leaders suspect Lieberman of wanting to torpedo both Eisenkot and Netanyahu so that he himself would ultimately receive the mandate to form a government.

This suspicion is reinforced by an investigation by TV station Channel 13, according to which Lieberman conducted secret negotiations with ultra-Orthodox parties before the elections while publicly campaigning against them. In return for concessions on conscription, the ultra-Orthodox would join a government led by him, it was said. This would be unacceptable for the Eisenkot party bloc.

Lieberman on Sunday contradicted those reports, saying he had "not abandoned the principle of conscription." But “in light of the election results, we need to explore options.” He would rather govern with ultra-Orthodox than with Arabs, among whom are MPs “who publicly support Hamas, describe it as a charity and accuse the State of Israel of genocide.”

Another hurdle for Eisenkot is the current speaker of parliament, Amir Ohana from Netanyahu's Likud party. The “Speaker” of the Knesset has great power, he leads debates and votes and has to sign every law passed. Eisenkot's “Change Bloc” calls for a new election of the parliamentary speaker as soon as possible after the inauguration of the newly elected Knesset on November 10th. Ohana said he would agree to this once a majority of the Knesset requests it in writing.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu has spoken out again. In his second video of the entire election period, he declared on Saturday that it was "the will of the people" that Israel have a "broad government of national unity" that "does not depend on terrorist supporters." In addition, David Zini, the head of the domestic intelligence service Shin Beth installed by Netanyahu, has launched an investigation into alleged massive foreign influence in the elections, which represents a strategic failure comparable to the terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023. There is opposition to this assessment within his secret service, and Electoral Commission head Noam Sohlberg insists that there is no reason to doubt the election results.

From the perspective of Eisenkot's camp, Netanyahu is exploiting the secret service through Zini. Zini is corrupting Shin Beth out of loyalty to the prime minister, said former Shin Beth boss Ami Ayalon at a protest rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening. “Shin Beth serves Israeli democracy, not those in power,” he said. “In a totalitarian government, Shin Beth protects the government against the citizens.” The fact that Zini does nothing against “Jewish terror in Judea and Samaria” and disregards the rights of Arab Israelis harms Israel’s values ​​and laws.