Israel’s new parliament was sworn in on Tuesday, opening a 28-day window for opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot to assemble a coalition and unseat caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Eisenkot, a former army chief, received the mandate after drawing more recommendations from Knesset members than Netanyahu. Not all of the lawmakers who backed him, however, are willing to sit in the same government.
His bloc of four parties won 48 seats in October’s election, while Netanyahu’s bloc took 53 — both short of the 60 needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. Eisenkot has 28 days to build a coalition, with a possible two-week extension.
The incoming house differs sharply from its predecessor: almost half of the new MKs did not serve in the previous parliament, and Arab-led parties hold a record number of seats.
Shortly after the swearing-in, Netanyahu and Eisenkot each warned the chamber about the perils of backing a government led by the other. Netanyahu, alluding to the prospect of an Eisenkot-led government dependent on support from Arab parties, asked: “[And] to those who are thinking of establishing a government that includes supporters of terror and haters of Israel, or that will be dependent on them, I ask you, are you prepared to be dependent on those whose goal is the destruction of the Jewish state?”
He also appealed for a government of national unity, describing it as the only way to confront what he called the threat of “a nuclear Iran.”
Eisenkot responded sharply. “I sat and listened to the outgoing prime minister’s delusional, divisive, hate-filled and shameful speech, exploiting a state occasion,” he said. “I am now even more convinced that he is unfit to remain in office for even one more minute.”
The election, widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu, left open who will ultimately form the next government. Netanyahu remains caretaker prime minister in the interim — a process that could take days or months.
One of the most striking results was the showing of Israel’s two Arab-led alliances. The United Arab List and the Joint List won an unprecedented 19 seats between them after a surge in turnout among Arab voters, giving the Arab parties a potential balance of power. Netanyahu has ruled out governing with them, and three of the parties in Eisenkot’s bloc have opposed including them in a coalition.
Herzog hands Eisenkot the mandate
President Isaac Herzog tasked Eisenkot with trying to form a government on Sunday, after consultations with the parties. Speaking at the president’s residence, the leader of the centrist Yashar party called for a “national emergency government” — an implicit appeal to parties to set aside ideological differences in order to remove Netanyahu from office. Such a step, he said, would “require creative and unconventional political steps.”
Eisenkot said any party or MK prepared to accept four principles could join his proposed government: recognition of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state; acceptance of the values of the Declaration of Independence; backing mandatory military, national or civilian service for all, including communities currently exempt; and recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organization, with a commitment to dismantling its military and governing capabilities.
The four requirements present significant obstacles to some of his potential partners. Conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men, who are exempt from military service while in full-time religious study, was a major issue in the election campaign. The ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism and Shas parties, which won 13 seats combined, have fiercely objected to attempts to change the status quo — a change every party in Eisenkot’s bloc campaigned for.
The principles are also contentious for the Arab parties. Both stress equal national and civic rights for Israel’s Arab citizens, who make up about 20% of the population; the vast majority of Israeli Arabs are not required to serve in the military; and neither has publicly recognized Hamas as a terrorist organization.
The Arab parties could nonetheless help Eisenkot form a minority government. The United Arab List, with eight seats, has said it is willing to be part of an Eisenkot-led coalition, while the Joint List, with 11 seats, has offered parliamentary support from the outside.
Even if Eisenkot accepted such an arrangement, he would still need to persuade other parties in his bloc. Avigdor Lieberman, whose Yisrael Beiteinu party won seven seats, has so far refused to join a minority government dependent on Arab MKs.
For their part, the ultra-Orthodox parties would likely demand major concessions on military conscription in return for their support — terms that might be unacceptable to most of the parties in Eisenkot’s bloc.