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Israel's president taps Netanyahu rival Gadi Eisenkot to form a government

November 8, 2026

ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation and ABC News (Australia) report that Mr Eisenkot will have 28 days to form a coalition after he receives the formal offer from the president later today.

Al Jazeera reports that Eisenkot emerged as the leader of his volatile opposition bloc just days before the October 27 elections, and even then, messaging from within the coalition appeared confused, contradictory and seemingly absent of any central coordinating figure. Werder Bremen ultras, whose fan scene has longstanding ties with fans of Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabi Haifa, displayed banners for Israeli hostages after October 7, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a Werder fan abducted at the Nova festival and murdered in Gaza.At the same time, pro-Palestinian mobilization was growing, Jerusalem Post reports. The country held five elections between 2019 and 2022 owing to repeated deadlocks, The Guardian reports.

ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation and ABC News (Australia) report that Mr Eisenkot will have 28 days to form a coalition after he receives the formal offer from the president later today. Reserved and media-shy, Eisenkot only entered politics in 2022, CBC reports. Eisenkot highlighted his security credentials on the campaign trail, citing his "Dahiyeh doctrine" of responding to attacks with disproportionate force, which he deployed as a commander during Israel's 2006 war with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. CBC reports that Eisenkot has criticized settler violence against Palestinians, which has surged since 2023, raising tensions in Israel’s ties with Western states, and he opposes Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who have both faced sanctions by some Western countries for inciting violence against Palestinians. Starting Sunday, Eisenkot will have 28 days to negotiate with other parties over Cabinet posts, budgets and policies, with a possible 14-day extension, CNN reports. Eisenkot is a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, serving as the country's top military commander from 2015 to 2019, NPR reports. The Guardian reports that commanding the military during the 2006 war with Hezbollah, Eisenkot devised the so-called “Dahiya doctrine”. After an official ceremony on Sunday, Eisenkot will launch complicated negotiations with potential coalition partners, ABC News reports. Eisenkot has been tapped by President Herzog to try to build Israel’s next government, Al Jazeera reports. Eisenkot is the architect of the Dahiyeh Doctrine, which advocates the use of disproportionate force and widespread destruction against civilian communities resisting Israeli force.

Haaretz reports that Israel Is Alone in the World. Israel is no exception. Haaretz reports that Israel must remain "Jewish", but nationalism has destroyed any connection between Israel and Judaism in the same way nationalism destroyed any connection between "Christian" states and Christianity in Europe. Israel is a nation surrounded by mirrors that prevent it from seeing beyond itself. If those efforts also fail, Israel could face another election, NPR reports. If neither side succeeds, Israel will head to fresh elections, The Guardian reports. Israel attacks Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports. Israel's president has tapped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main political rival, Gadi Eisenkot, to try to form the next government, NPR reports. Israel’s president has chosen Gadi Eisenkot, the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strongest rival, to try to form a new government, after a deadlocked election that left neither man with a clear path to power, The Guardian reports. Eisenkot has a mandate and a parliamentary majority on paper, but not yet a governing coalition, CNN reports. Eisenkot gets mandate, Haaretz reports. Herzog’s decision followed two days of consultations last week with all parties elected to the Knesset, CNN reports. So the decisions should be taken collectively in regular consultation & presented to the public through the Prime, or First Minister, which would be in this case Eisenkot who now has the mandate from the President, Haaretz reports.

Al Jazeera reports that Eisenkot emerged as the leader of his volatile opposition bloc just days before the October 27 elections, and even then, messaging from within the coalition appeared confused, contradictory and seemingly absent of any central coordinating figure. Werder Bremen ultras, whose fan scene has longstanding ties with fans of Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabi Haifa, displayed banners for Israeli hostages after October 7, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a Werder fan abducted at the Nova festival and murdered in Gaza.At the same time, pro-Palestinian mobilization was growing, Jerusalem Post reports. The country held five elections between 2019 and 2022 owing to repeated deadlocks, The Guardian reports.

The figures for party do not match from one account to the next. Gadi Eisenkot, a retired military chief who led the centrist Yashar party in the October 27 election, will have up to six weeks to try and assemble a coalition to replace Netanyahu, CNN reports. Eisenkot will have up to six weeks to form a coalition government, a challenging task in a deeply divided country reeling from the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas-led militants and the three years of wars that have followed in Gaza and beyond, ABC News reports. But his path to power is fraught with political obstacles and divisions within the opposition itself, CNN reports. CNN reports that in a setback to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his main rival will be tasked with forming the next Israeli government, placing him one step closer to ousting Israel’s longest-serving leader, even as the path remains complicated. President Herzog taps Eisenkot to form coalition, but path remains fraught, The Times of Israel reports. In January 2026, two rival groups of German anti-fascists prepared to face each other on the streets of Leipzig, Jerusalem Post reports. Among those mobilizing was the group Handala Leipzig, which the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution Saxony (Verfassungsschutz) classifies as part of an extremist milieu, Jerusalem Post reports.

Still developing

The figures for party do not match from one account to the next. Gadi Eisenkot, a retired military chief who led the centrist Yashar party in the October 27 election, will have up to six weeks to try and assemble a coalition to replace Netanyahu, CNN reports. Eisenkot will have up to six weeks to form a coalition government, a challenging task in a deeply divided country reeling from the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas-led militants and the three years of wars that have followed in Gaza and beyond, ABC News reports.

How settled the reporting is

Reported 92% · Contested 2% · Developing 6%

Sources

Toggle read the full reports of 10 of the 13 outlets counted on this event. The other 3 are counted from their headlines and opening sentences.