Isaac Herzog has given the job of forming the next government to someone else. Gadi Eisenkot. A retired general who used to sit in Netanyahu's own war cabinet.
Herzog told him earlier today. The formal handover happens at a ceremony in Jerusalem this evening, 5pm local time.
So what does Eisenkot get? 28 days. Maybe 42, if he needs the extension. His job: build a coalition of at least 61 seats, out of 120 in the Knesset.
And the vote to get here wasn't close. This week, 67 lawmakers told the president to pick Eisenkot. Only 46 backed Netanyahu.
But here's the thing. That number doesn't hand him a government.
Israel had an election 11 days ago. Eisenkot's alliance, four parties together, won 48 seats. Netanyahu's bloc won 53. Neither one got to 61.
Arab-led parties won a record 19 seats in that same election. And Eisenkot has already ruled out building a government with them.
So where does he find the rest? Israel's two ultra-Orthodox parties. United Torah Judaism and Shas. Together they hold 13 seats. Get both, and Eisenkot lands on exactly 61.
But that's not simple either. Shas, six seats, backed Netanyahu this week. United Torah Judaism, seven seats, wouldn't back either man.
And here's why they're hesitating. Eisenkot has set four conditions for anyone who wants in. Israel stays a Jewish, democratic, liberal and equal state. Commitment to the country's founding values. Universal service — military, national or civilian. And recognising Hamas as a terrorist group.
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New National Library of Israel Complex in the background the Knesset building and Wohl rose park, December 2023. File photo. Chezki Mozes · CC BY-SA 4.0
That service rule is the problem. Ultra-Orthodox parties have fought for years to keep their community out of the military. Eisenkot campaigned on ending exactly that.
Avigdor Liberman runs one of the four parties backing Eisenkot. He's already ruled out leaning on the Arab parties for support. He warned online it would hand Netanyahu more seats at the next election.
Netanyahu got his own message out first. A few hours before Herzog's announcement, he said a government built with Arab-party support would lead to Israel's collapse. He asked for a national unity government with Eisenkot instead.
Eisenkot's party, Yashar, dismissed that as spin. They said Netanyahu's Likud was welcome to drop its alliance with the extremists and join Eisenkot instead.
Eisenkot posted his own response after Herzog's decision: says quote "this is the time to establish a national emergency government".
So a former army chief who lost the seat count is now asking the people who beat him to hand him the country.
Eisenkot ran Israel's military from 2015 to 2019. After the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, he sat as an observer in Netanyahu's war cabinet. He walked out the next year, saying Netanyahu wasn't getting anywhere on ending the war in Gaza or freeing the hostages.
And if Eisenkot can't find 61 seats in time? Herzog picks someone else. If that person fails too, parliament gets one last go with a third name, 14 days. If that fails, Israel goes back to an election within 90 days.
Through all of it, Netanyahu stays on as caretaker prime minister.
So Netanyahu just lost the first round. But he hasn't lost the job. Not yet.
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