Gadi Eisenkot emerged on Thursday (November 5, 2026) as the favourite to be tasked with trying to form an Israeli government as a religious party long aligned with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to recommend him.
Netanyahu — a polarising right-winger who has led Israel through three years of war — nor Mr. Eisenkot — a former military chief promising to restore national unity — secured enough votes for a majority. Mr. Herzog will choose for himself whom to ask to form a new government, but traditionally the mandate is given to the person recommended by more parties, which would be Mr. Eisenkot. Netanyahu’s policies, even as Mr. Eisenkot has remained unclear on whether he would accept Arab support to form a government. United Torah Judaism, which backed Mr. Netanyahu after the previous five elections, in its meeting with Mr. Herzog declined to recommend Mr. Netanyahu again as Prime Minister, although it also did not side with Mr. The party informed Mr. Once Mr. Herzog gives his mandate to a lawmaker, the person — presumably either Mr. If the lawmaker fails, Mr. Herzog will then task someone else.
President Isaac Herzog was holding a second day of consultations with political parties after the October 27 election, in which neither Mr. Netanyahu — will have 28 days to form a government, with a potential 14-day extension. The Opposition leader also received a recommendation from a key lawmaker from the Israeli-Arab minority, whose seats in Parliament soared due to outrage over Mr.
Herzog “that it has decided not to recommend any member of Knesset to form a government,” the President’s office said in a statement, referring to the 120-member parliament in which United Torah Judaism has won seven seats. “In whatever government is next formed, our immediate item is sorting out the status of Torah students,” United Torah Judaism lawmaker Isaac Pindrus said.
