---
title: "Herzog Hands Eisenkot the Mandate as Netanyahu Warns of a State Dismantled"
description: "Backed by 67 lawmakers to Netanyahu’s 46, the former army chief has 28 days to reach 61 seats, and the votes he needs are the ones he swore off"
author: "Jan Sokol"
published: 2026-11-08T11:34:58Z
modified: 2026-11-08T18:55:25Z
url: https://rews.cc/a/herzog-gives-eisenkot-28-days-to-find-a-majority-the-electio-7cac58
language: en
tags: ["israel", "netanyahu", "politics", "eisenkot", "coalition", "mideast"]
publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)"
---

# Herzog Hands Eisenkot the Mandate as Netanyahu Warns of a State Dismantled

*Backed by 67 lawmakers to Netanyahu’s 46, the former army chief has 28 days to reach 61 seats, and the votes he needs are the ones he swore off*

By Jan Sokol · November 8, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/herzog-gives-eisenkot-28-days-to-find-a-majority-the-electio-7cac58

## In brief

- President Herzog picked Gadi Eisenkot on 7 November and formally handed him the mandate on Sunday 8 November in Jerusalem
- Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats, Eisenkot’s alliance 48 and Arab-led parties a record 19; a government needs 61 of 120
- 67 lawmakers recommended Eisenkot and 46 backed Netanyahu; Eisenkot has 28 days plus a possible 14-day extension
- Netanyahu warned against a government backed by Arab-led parties; the elections body rejected claims of systematic fraud
- Reports differ on whether Eisenkot has ruled out Arab party support; Ahmad Tibi expects a minority government backed from outside

In Israel the right to attempt a government passes from hand to hand at a set hour, in a residence in Jerusalem, given by a president who does not govern. On Saturday evening, 7 November, President Isaac Herzog told Gadi Eisenkot, the former army chief who ran against Benjamin Netanyahu, that he would have the first try. [Al Jazeera reported](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/7/israels-president-picks-eisenkot-over-netanyahu-to-form-next-government) that the president’s spokesperson put the formal handover at a ceremony the next day. Everyone had expected the announcement on Sunday. It came a night early, shortly after the prime minister released a video.

On Sunday at 5 p.m., the hour [NPR gave](https://npr.org/2026/11/07/g-s1-152536/netanyahu-israel-government-eisenkot-herzog) for the ceremony, the mandate changed hands at the President’s Residence, [broadcast live](https://themedialine.org/headlines/herzog-to-task-gadi-eisenkot-with-forming-israels-next-government-on-sunday/) as Herzog’s office had promised. [According to the Associated Press](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/israels-president-formally-gives-eisenkot-the-first-chance-to-form-the-next-government), Herzog said he hoped “with all my heart that whatever government is formed will lead to unity, connection and healing among all segments of our people.” Eisenkot promised leadership people could trust, acting for the public and representing every part of society.

## Counting to sixty-one

The election of 27 October left a parliament in which nobody rules. Likud won 27 seats, six more than Eisenkot’s Yashar. Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious bloc took 53 of the Knesset’s 120 seats. Eisenkot’s four-party alliance took 48. The Arab-led parties, who speak for Palestinian citizens of Israel, roughly a fifth of the country, turned out in record numbers and won 19 seats, more than ever before. Sixty-one is the number that makes a government. Nobody reached it.

![A cream chair sits on a curved navy puzzle bridge facing a cream puzzle bridge, with three yellow puzzle pieces floating above the gap against teal.](https://rews.cc/img/5db1568a05fb60a247f7afaa5765f9876c8b1398.webp)

In the week’s consultations, as [Al Jazeera’s longer report](https://yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/israel-president-picks-eisenkot-over-202658136.html) set out, 67 lawmakers recommended Eisenkot, members of the Arab-led parties among them, while only 46 backed Netanyahu. Add 48 and 19 and you get 67: the majority that put Eisenkot forward is exactly [the one he says he will not govern with](https://rews.cc/a/israel-s-joint-list-backs-eisenkot-lifting-him-to-67-recomme-d97318). Without the Arab-led parties, the other road to 61 runs through the two ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, which would take him to exactly 61. He could also take office with fewer seats if he wins a confidence vote.

The clock is set by law. Eisenkot has 28 days and may ask for 14 more, six weeks at most, as [Al Jazeera noted](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/8/will-eisenkot-be-able-to-form-israels-next-govt-amid-divided-opposition) on Sunday. If he fails, Herzog names someone else. If the second nominee fails too, a majority of the Knesset can back a third, who gets a final 14 days. After that comes an election within 90 days. Through all of it Netanyahu stays on as caretaker prime minister. Losing does not, by itself, remove him.

## The video

Hours before Herzog acted, Netanyahu appeared in a prerecorded message. He called for a “national unity government” and warned against “hastily swearing in a government with terrorist supporters”, which [the Associated Press, via NBC News](https://nbcnews.com/world/israel/israels-president-taps-gadi-eisenkot-rcna608033), read as an apparent reference to the Arab-led parties. Al Jazeera quoted another line:

> Such a government, dependent on Islamists, will dismantle the state of Israel from within, as is happening in European countries, and far worse than that.

NPR reported that he also spoke of partnering with Hamas supporters and “those who oppose Judaism.” Eisenkot called the video hysterical. Yashar answered on X, urging Likud members to break with “radical parties”, taken as a reference to the settler-linked and ultra-Orthodox partners in Netanyahu’s own coalition. The party said Eisenkot would include only parties and lawmakers who accept its principles, recognising Hamas as a terrorist organisation among them.

![Three hands in dark suit sleeves pull cream, yellow, and red ribbons intertwined in a central knot against a bright blue background.](https://rews.cc/img/e983cee14eb4eb0f0a81c2a243e0f320d34a6e4e.webp)

The video came on top of another story. Netanyahu has alleged, without evidence, that some Arab countries interfered in the vote, and he and his allies have gone on to [claim the election was stolen](https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/02/middleeast/netanyahu-elections-stolen-claims-intl). [As CBS News reported](https://cbsnews.com/news/israel-election-government-gadi-eisenkot-benjamin-netanyahu/), Din Livne, acting director-general of the Central Elections Committee, wrote to a committee member on Thursday that “there is no basis to the claims regarding a systematic compromise of the integrity of the elections.” The Times of Israel identified the recipient as Yesh Atid lawmaker Vladimir Beliak and [reported the letter](https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/elections-panel-director-says-claims-of-widespread-fraud-appear-to-be-baseless-vote-was-conducted-lawfully) as saying the vote had been conducted lawfully.

The pattern is an old one. A ruler who cannot win the count blames the people who did the counting, and then the people who voted.

## The ones who count

The reports do not agree on what Eisenkot has promised. Al Jazeera writes that he ruled out a government with the Arab-led parties. The AP says he has signalled he could work with them on conditions, including that they call Hamas a terrorist group that must be destroyed. NPR records that both he and Netanyahu ruled them out before the vote, and that Eisenkot is now under public pressure to change his mind. CBS adds that most of the Jewish-led parties opposed to Netanyahu promised before the election not to rely on Arab support.

The people being promised against are the ones who made the result. Ahmad Tibi of the Joint List, which holds 11 seats, told Al Jazeera the decision was “expected”. “We were concerned that the president would move towards a national unity government,” he said. He predicted a minority government “with external support from the Arab parties”. It would not be a “dream government”, he said, but bringing down “the government of Netanyahu, \[Itamar\] Ben-Gvir and \[Bezalel\] Smotrich” came first. He answered the prime minister’s language in kind: “Netanyahu is the biggest terrorist in Israel and the region, and the foremost supporter of terrorism, particularly Jewish terrorism in the West Bank and the Palestinian territories.”

![A headless navy business suit with a red tie rests inside a cream and red life ring shaped like a speech bubble against a blue background.](https://rews.cc/img/f979ca85e4b7756724fb01f0178947492257f5d5.webp)

Nour Odeh, reporting for Al Jazeera from Ramallah, said Herzog had “took the predictable route”. The hard part, she said, was a government that “will not break too many of the promises he made on the campaign trail” and “can survive the opposition of the right-wing bloc led by Netanyahu.” Eisenkot and the Arab-led parties, she added, “share quite compelling reasons to get rid of Netanyahu”.

The man holding the mandate led the army from 2015 to 2019. After the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023 he sat in Netanyahu’s war cabinet, as an observer according to Al Jazeera, and left the next year, accusing the prime minister of failing to move towards ending the Gaza war and bringing the hostages home. His son Gal, a reservist, was killed in Gaza. So were two of his nephews. He founded Yashar on a promise to fight corruption and reform government. On Saturday he wrote on X: “Now is the time to form a national emergency government. I will do everything to ensure we are worthy.”

CBS points out one more piece of arithmetic. Once the new Knesset is sworn in, Eisenkot’s bloc and the Arab-led parties together will hold a majority and could start passing laws, government or no government. Netanyahu, whom President Trump endorsed enthusiastically, will meanwhile sit in the prime minister’s office as caretaker for as long as the bargaining takes. The decision now rests on [a pledge Eisenkot may have to break](https://rews.cc/a/israel-s-exit-polls-called-it-a-netanyahu-defeat-the-count-d-bdea23).

## Sources

- [Can Eisenkot form Israel’s next government amid divided opposition?](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/8/will-eisenkot-be-able-to-form-israels-next-govt-amid-divided-opposition) — aljazeera.com
- [Israel’s president taps opposition candidate Eisenkot to form a government, in setback for Netanyahu](https://nbcnews.com/world/israel/israels-president-taps-gadi-eisenkot-rcna608033) — nbcnews.com
- [Israel’s president picks Eisenkot over Netanyahu to form next government](https://yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/israel-president-picks-eisenkot-over-202658136.html) — yahoo.com
- [Israel's president picks Eisenkot over Netanyahu to form next government](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/7/israels-president-picks-eisenkot-over-netanyahu-to-form-next-government) — aljazeera.com
- [Israel's president taps opposition candidate, not Netanyahu, to form a government](https://npr.org/2026/11/07/g-s1-152536/netanyahu-israel-government-eisenkot-herzog) — npr.org
- [Israel's president taps opposition candidate Eisenkot to form a government, in setback for Netanyahu](https://cbsnews.com/news/israel-election-government-gadi-eisenkot-benjamin-netanyahu/) — cbsnews.com