EASTORA REPORT | Seventy-four lawmakers have not backed Benjamin Netanyahu to stay in power. That sounds decisive in Israel’s 120-seat parliament. For opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, it conceals a problem: saying no to Netanyahu is easier than agreeing on who governs next.
Eisenkot said Friday that talks on a “national emergency government” had made significant progress. He said his team had spent dozens of hours negotiating and hoped President Isaac Herzog would grant him the mandate on Sunday. He called Israel’s situation a “real, tangible and dangerous emergency” and warned that another election would keep Netanyahu in office as caretaker.
In presidential consultations, Eisenkot leads. Parties representing 67 lawmakers recommended him to Herzog, against 46 for Netanyahu. Seven members of United Torah Judaism, a longtime Netanyahu ally, recommended neither candidate. That leaves 74 who did not endorse Netanyahu, but not 74 votes for a new cabinet.
His four Jewish-led opposition parties hold just 48 seats. Two Arab-led parties supplied the other 19 recommendations, though key allies of Eisenkot have ruled out governing with them. Herzog made the distinction himself: the recommendations “appear clear,” he said, but who can actually assemble a government is less certain because parties within and across the blocs veto one another.
There is a possible opening among the seven lawmakers who stayed neutral. Avigdor Liberman, an Eisenkot ally who had long opposed joining a government with ultra-Orthodox parties, said Friday he was open to compromising over military service. United Torah Judaism welcomed the shift but said it had received no proposal. Eisenkot, meanwhile, is insisting that any coalition partner accept a principle requiring military, national or civilian service for all.
Herzog says he will decide Sunday who gets the first chance to form a government. That person will have 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension. Eisenkot says he has made a breakthrough, but the talks remain largely out of public view. The count that matters next is no longer how many lawmakers reject Netanyahu. It is how many will vote to install someone else.