Key takeaways
- Israel's Joint List recommended Gadi Eisenkot to President Herzog but said it will not join his government.
- Eisenkot holds 67 recommendations to Netanyahu's 46, but recommendations do not bind Herzog or create a coalition with 61 seats.
- Netanyahu's camp frames Arab-party support as a security risk, while the election committee found no evidence of irregularities.
Israel's Joint List recommended Gadi Eisenkot to President Isaac Herzog on Thursday 5 November. It said it will not formally join a government he leads. The Arab-led alliance won 11 of the 120 Knesset seats on 27 October. It may give outside support, Daijiworld reported, citing the Times of Israel. Ra'am, the other Arab-led party, with 8 seats, had recommended Eisenkot earlier that day. Ynet and the Times of Israel put the tally at 67 recommendations for Eisenkot and 46 for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Herzog's consultations opened on 4 November and ended on Thursday evening with Likud. He said he would assign the mandate on Sunday, the Times of Israel reported. The results "appear clear", he said, but who can form a government "is not entirely clear in light of the mutual vetoes between the blocs and within the blocs themselves."
The Joint List said the decision, taken by its three factions, was unanimous, according to the Times of Israel. "This was not a simple decision," its statement said, as JFeed reported. It said it sees "importance in widening the gap" between Eisenkot and Netanyahu. It also said the opposition camp "has not yet demonstrated the necessary willingness to confront Netanyahu's path." Party chair Yousef Jabareen told Herzog: "We are not choosing between good and better, but between what we see as bad and even worse," the Times of Israel reported.
Sixty-seven on paper
Eisenkot's 67 is 48 from Yashar, B'Yachad, the Democrats and Yisrael Beytenu, plus 8 from Ra'am and 11 from the Joint List. Netanyahu's 46 is lower than the 53 seats his bloc won. United Torah Judaism (UTJ), with seven seats, declined to recommend either candidate, the Times of Israel reported via Daijiworld. UTJ cited directives from its spiritual leaders and frustration over military-service exemptions for yeshiva students. It told Herzog its support for any future government stays conditional on those exemptions.
Recommendations do not bind Herzog. JFeed, citing Israeli law, reported that he has until 11 November to assign the mandate. It said he is not obliged to choose the candidate with the most recommendations.
This is analysis. The 67 counts the Arab parties for votes, not for power. Yisrael Beytenu recommended Eisenkot, The Jerusalem Post reported, and its MK Oded Forer said at the President's Residence that the parties must come together to establish a good government for Israel. Its leader, Avigdor Liberman, ruled out a minority government backed by Arab parties: "It won't happen," he said, according to the Times of Israel. Eisenkot's four principles include labelling Hamas a terrorist group. AP reports that the Joint List and Ra'am condemn the 7 October 2023 attack but refuse to brand Hamas a terrorist group. It says Joint List MK Ahmad Tibi argues the conditions do not apply to parties giving outside support. Only one Arab party has served in an Israeli government: Ra'am, in 2021, for under two years, Al Jazeera notes.
Observers are reading: how Netanyahu's terror and fraud claims line up against the documented record, and where Iran actually enters the mandate contest.
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What to watch
This is analysis. So far, Iran is a rhetorical battleground more than a documented policy divide. Netanyahu argues that an Arab-reliant government cannot confront Tehran. Nothing in the reporting shows what an Eisenkot government would do. Any real shift would depend on coalition composition, Washington's choices and the Hormuz diplomacy. The verifiable change is the contest over who gets the mandate.
Three dates matter. Herzog's deadline is 11 November, and he can act sooner. The new Knesset is sworn in on 10 November. The opposition wants to replace Speaker Amir Ohana that day, Daijiworld reported, but has not agreed on a candidate. The nominee then has 28 days to form a government, extendable by 14. Netanyahu remains caretaker prime minister meanwhile, Reuters reported. He took 58 days to form a government after the November 2022 election, Dawn reported. It is not yet clear whether Haredi parties or outside Arab support would supply the 61 seats.
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