Israel's largest opposition camp wins the right to form a government. Take a look at various directions at once

Israeli President Herzog today gave priority to authorizing Prime Minister Netanyahu's political rival Eisenkot to form a government, but the current conditions show that it is extremely difficult. If Eisenkot fails, it is likely that Netanyahu will form a cabinet or even hold a new election.

In Israel’s general election on October 27, no camp could control a majority of the 120-seat parliament. The right-wing coalition led by current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won 53 seats, and the largest opposition camp led by former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot won 48 seats. The two Arab parties won a new high of 19 seats, becoming a key minority that affects the political situation.

The New York Times pointed out that Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that he had in-depth discussions with Netanyahu and Eisenkot before making the decision. After negotiations between political parties over the past week, the number of members of Congress who supported Eisenkot's formation of a cabinet was ultimately greater than that of Netanyahu, so Herzog decided to appoint the center-right, 66-year-old Eisenkot to be responsible for forming the government first.

Eisenkot has up to six weeks to form a governing coalition. If it cannot be completed after the expiration of the time limit, the president can give the opportunity to form a cabinet to another candidate, and the most likely successor is Netanyahu.

The New York Times analyzed that the problem facing Eisenkot is that if he wants to get more than half of the seats, he must cooperate with Arab parties. However, some right-wing Jewish parties within his camp have stated that they will never join a government that relies on the help of Arab parties. In addition, some of Eisenkot's previous conditions for cooperation, including the requirement to publicly characterize Hamas as a terrorist organization, have not yet been accepted by Arab parties.

According to Reuters analysis, Eisenkot has three ways to form a cabinet, but all of them may be difficult. The first is to form a minority government and win over two Arab parties to support key policies from the outside without joining the cabinet; the second is to win over the ultra-Orthodox parties, but they refuse young men to serve in the military on the grounds of their faith. The Eisenkot camp insists that ultra-Orthodox must also serve in the military. In addition, the ultra-Orthodox have also been long-term allies of Netanyahu's United Party (Likud).

The third option is to form a cabinet with Netanyahu, but one of Eisenkot’s major political issues during the campaign is to end Netanyahu’s rule. Analysts believe that all three options are unlikely to be realized.

If Eisenkot fails to form the government, the Israeli president is expected to nominate Netanyahu to take over the government. At that time, Netanyahu may poach individuals from the opposition camp, and he has had success in the past.