Israeli President Isaac Herzog has selected opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot to try to form the country’s next government, after neither his bloc nor Benjamin Netanyahu’s allies emerged from the October election with a majority. A brief account from the Brazilian right framed the development chiefly as the president choosing “Netanyahu’s opponent” to form a government.¹

Reporting from the Brazilian left presented the appointment as the opening move in a far more complicated coalition contest. Herzog was expected to formally give Eisenkot the mandate after consultations in which parties representing 67 lawmakers recommended him, compared with 46 for Netanyahu’s bloc.² Eisenkot needs the support of 61 members of parliament and has 28 days to assemble it, with a possible 14-day extension.

The central contrast is over the partners required to make an Eisenkot-led coalition viable. His bloc has support from Arab Israeli parties, but some opposition figures are reluctant to depend on them. Netanyahu has criticized the prospect of such an arrangement, saying a coalition with Arab parties would “dismantle the State of Israel from within.”²

Eisenkot, a former military chief newly active in politics, has also opened the door to an unlikely understanding with ultra-Orthodox parties. That possibility could produce the numbers needed for a government, but it risks alienating secular allies and voters who oppose exemptions from compulsory military service. Eisenkot has proposed national service for all Israelis, with a civilian alternative that could accommodate ultra-Orthodox communities.²

Both accounts agree on the immediate political outcome: Netanyahu did not secure a governing majority and Eisenkot now has the first mandate. The fuller account, however, underscores that replacing Netanyahu would still require compromises across deep disputes over Arab party participation, military service and the shape of a national-unity government. If Eisenkot cannot build a coalition, Herzog may turn to another candidate; failure by both sides could trigger another election.²