Knesset Sworn In: Can Netanyahu Stop Eisenkot’s Coalition?

Israel’s 26th Knesset was sworn in at Jerusalem on Tuesday 10 November, and Benjamin Netanyahu used the occasion to ask for a government he cannot form alone. He told the new parliament it should “establish a national unity government” and warned that “Iran is working to revive the nuclear threat.”

Gadi Eisenkot, who has held President Isaac Herzog’s mandate to form a government since 8 November, answered within the hour on X. He called it the “delusional, divisive, hate-filled and shameful speech of the outgoing prime minister” and said he was even more convinced that Netanyahu is “unfit to remain in office.”

The Central Elections Committee’s final count, published on 4 November, gave Netanyahu’s bloc 53 of the 120 seats, the anti-Netanyahu parties 48 and the Arab parties, Ra’am and the Joint List, 19. A government needs 61.

• Netanyahu proposed a unity government, tied it to Iran, and told Haredi lawmakers that “a narrow government [led by Eisenkot] must not be formed.”
• Eisenkot rejected the offer the same afternoon and said “we must act urgently to establish a national emergency government.”
• Speaker Amir Ohana said he had scheduled the vote on his replacement for Tuesday 17 November at 4 p.m., after 67 lawmakers signed a request to remove him.
• Herzog’s office said Eisenkot has 28 days from 8 November to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension.

Opening the session, Herzog asked party leaders to “extend a hand to make concessions, even between rivals” and said that “there is no place for racism against anyone.” He told lawmakers the Knesset must serve out its full term, and he called for strengthening the peace agreements with Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, the UAE and Bahrain “and even add to them.”

During the oath, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir shouted at a Joint List lawmaker: “Who is he pledging allegiance to, Hamas?” When several Joint List members left the chamber during the anthem and Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas stayed in his seat, Likud members asked Eisenkot’s bloc “where are your partners.”

“In the very near future, we’re going to be confronted by international pressure to accept a nuclear-armed Iran,” Netanyahu said in the early evening, Israel time. He said the only way to remove that threat for good is to bring down the clerical regime in Tehran. He then asked lawmakers whether they were prepared to depend on parties whose goal, he said, is “the destruction of the Jewish state.”

Naftali Bennett shouted back: “What about investigating the events of October 7? What about your Qatari advisers?” Gilad Kariv of the Democrats called out, “How much money did you receive from Qatar?” Democrats leader Yair Golan walked out and said afterwards that “Netanyahu is having difficulty internalizing that the Israeli public fired him.”

After the session Netanyahu’s account on X posted the same caption seven times: “It is forbidden to establish a dangerous government with terror supporters from Ra’am and the Joint List!”

In a television interview that evening, Abbas said Netanyahu had used “a state occasion to lie, to incite and to spread blood libel,” and added: “We are law-abiding citizens of Israel.” He also said Netanyahu had told him in 2021 that he and Yahya Sinwar understood each other. Netanyahu’s office has not confirmed that account.

Eisenkot’s bloc announced bills on the first day for a state commission of inquiry into the 7 October 2023 attack, a limit on a prime minister’s time in office, and a repeal of the judicial overhaul, and filed the request, signed by 67 lawmakers, to replace Ohana with Matan Kahana of B’Yachad.

Herzog’s office said 67 lawmakers recommended Eisenkot and 46 recommended Netanyahu, with seven recommending no one. Under Israel’s Basic Law, Eisenkot’s 28 days run to about 6 December, and a new government takes office only when the Knesset approves it; Netanyahu stays prime minister until then. If Eisenkot fails, the president can hand the mandate to another lawmaker, and if that fails too, the Knesset dissolves and Israel votes again, as our explainer on how Israel’s prime minister is chosen sets out.

The speaker vote on 17 November comes first. United Torah Judaism has said it will not vote to replace Ohana before a government is formed, so the count will show whether 61 votes exist without the Haredi parties.

Then Abbas’s wording on Hamas: Eisenkot has said parties joining his coalition must recognise Hamas as a terrorist organisation, and Abbas declined to use that label when Herzog pressed him during the consultations.

After that comes the 6 December deadline, and whether Eisenkot asks Herzog for the extension Herzog’s office said is available.

Netanyahu has the speech of a coalition maker and 53 seats. For background, see who Gadi Eisenkot is and our report on the election panel and Likud’s fraud claims.