Israel's Eisenkot formally tasked with forming government, given 28 days

Israeli President Isaac Herzog formally tasked Gadi Eisenkot with forming a government on Sunday, giving the centrist Yashar party leader 28 days to secure a coalition — with the authority to extend the mandate by a further 14 days.

Eisenkot received 67 recommendations from Knesset members; Benjamin Netanyahu received 46. The ultraorthodox Ashkenazi party United Torah Judaism made no recommendation despite having joined Netanyahu's governments for the past 17 years.

"The challenges we face are giant. Iran is not waiting a second in its threats. We have to start building a future in the region and proceed with Trump's 20-point plan in Gaza, as well as negotiating the future with Lebanon and other neighbors," Herzog said, adding that "Israel needs a stable government that faces these challenges."

Eisenkot, whose Yashar party finished second in October's elections with 21 seats behind Netanyahu's Likud on 27, stressed he is "committed to establishing a national emergency government" and pledged to approach all Knesset members as "parties and individuals" for talks.

Forming a majority will require navigating competing demands. Dividing Israel's Zionist parties into blocs gives Netanyahu's religious-nationalist allies 53 seats and the anti-Netanyahu bloc 48. Israel's two Arab parties — which together won 19 seats, a historic high driven by strong Arab and Palestinian community turnout — have expressed willingness to support the opposition in ousting Netanyahu. Ra'am, led by Mansour Abbas, said it is willing to join a coalition to improve Arab and Palestinian communities' lives.

Both sides of the Zionist political divide, however, promised not to rely on Arab party votes to form a government, meaning Eisenkot would have to reverse that pledge to include Ra'am.

The two ultraorthodox parties, UTJ and Shas, hold seven seats each, but bringing either into the coalition would require Eisenkot to abandon his campaign promise to legislate army conscription for young ultraorthodox men — something both parties firmly oppose.

Should Eisenkot fail, Herzog may pass the mandate to another Knesset member, with Netanyahu next in line. If neither succeeds and no other member commands sufficient support, Israel would face another round of elections.