Israel, Herzog has chosen Eisenkot: today the task of forming the new government

Israeli President Isaac Herzog this evening communicated to the leader of the Yashar party, Gadi Eisenkot, his intention to entrust him with the task of forming the new government. President Herzog invited Eisenkot to the presidential residence, where on Sunday 8 November at 5pm local time - 4pm in Italy - he will officially award him the role. The event will be held at the residence itself and the ceremony will be broadcast live. "The time has come to form a national emergency government. I will do everything to demonstrate that we are up to it", commented Eisenkot himself.

The consultations

During the consultations, the political forces representing a total of 67 members of the Knesset recommended that President Herzog entrust the position to Eisenkot, while those representing another 46 members instead indicated the outgoing prime minister and leader of the Likud, Benjamin Netanyahu. A parliamentary group of seven Knesset members chose not to recommend any candidates.

Netanyahu's appeal

Today Netanyahu invited the parties of the so-called "block of change" to form a government of national unity with the parties of his outgoing coalition and said that a government formed with Arab parties, which he defined as "supporters of terrorism", would destroy the country. While calling for unity, Netanyahu specified that such a government should include all his allies from the previous coalition, namely the ultranationalist factions of Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit, the ultra-Orthodox parties and the Likud.

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Yashar's reply

“If the Likud and its allies suddenly show interest in unity and a broad coalition government, they are welcome: they publicly announce the breaking of their alliance with the extremists (…) and their willingness to join a government led by (…) Eisenkot,” the Yashar party replied on X shortly after Netanyahu's message. “The man who divided, tore apart and sowed discord in Israeli society now speaks of 'unity' only because he realizes that his days in power are numbered - says Yashar - Unity is an important value for Israel, yet Netanyahu has systematically and resolutely acted against it, even during the most difficult war in our history”. The party goes on to say that “the emergency national government that Gadi Eisenkot will establish will include only Knesset members who support Yashar's four principles, including recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organization and commitment to destroying its military and government power.”

In-depth analysis

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