Eisenkot Gains Backing From Parties With 56 Seats as Herzog Opens Coalition Talks; Netanyahu Has 46

Gadi Eisenkot is on track to collect prime-minister recommendations from parties holding 56 Knesset seats, against 46 for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after President Isaac Herzog opened coalition talks in Jerusalem on Wednesday, Nov. 4. The tally comes from parties’ announced positions and the final seat count, and it leaves neither man at the 61 seats needed to govern.

Herzog held the first round of meetings at the President’s Residence on Wednesday evening, one week after the Oct. 27 vote. A ruling from a senior rabbi also kept the ultra-Orthodox Degel HaTorah faction from endorsing Netanyahu, a break with past practice, and the prime minister used his first video statement since election night to warn against any government that relies on Arab-led parties.

What parties told Herzog on day one

Four factions met the president on Wednesday. Three of them backed Netanyahu, the Jerusalem Post reported. Religious Zionism’s delegation, made up of Settlements Minister Orit Strock and incoming lawmakers Tzvika Mor and Itamar Eitam, recommended him and called for a “broad national government” under his leadership. Shas followed with five lawmakers led by Michael Malkieli. Zehut’s Moshe Feiglin and Shai Malka also recommended Netanyahu, and argued that the election results should be annulled.

Yisrael Beiteinu went the other way. Its delegation recommended Eisenkot, the leader of the Yashar! party. “We must come together here and do everything possible during this period of negotiations to establish a good government for Israel,” lawmaker Oded Forer said at the residence. Party chairman Avigdor Liberman has said he backs Eisenkot for prime minister and Yair Lapid for Knesset speaker, and he has ruled out a coalition that relies on Arab parties, Yeshiva World News reported.

Also on Wednesday, the Islamist Ra’am party, led by Mansour Abbas, announced that it would recommend Eisenkot when it meets Herzog. Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad and Yair Golan’s Democrats have said they will do the same, with the stated aim of avoiding another election.

Haredi party withholds support from Netanyahu

Rabbi Dov Landau ruled that United Torah Judaism would not recommend Netanyahu, and the party’s Degel HaTorah faction confirmed it would not endorse anyone, the Times of Israel reported. Haaretz described it as the first time since 2009 that a Haredi party has withheld its support from Netanyahu. UTJ, which holds seven seats, opens the second day of talks at 8:30 a.m. Israel time on Thursday. It was not clear whether its other faction, Agudat Yisrael, would abstain as well.

The Arab-led Joint List, with 11 seats, had not said by Wednesday night whether it would back Eisenkot or abstain, as it has in past elections. After UTJ, Thursday’s schedule runs through Otzma Yehudit, the Democrats, Ra’am, the Joint List and Beyachad, and ends with Yashar! and finally Likud.

The Shas side also saw a leadership question settled. Party chairman Aryeh Deri, who had not appeared publicly since the vote, said Wednesday evening that he would stay on, after Shas representatives told Herzog that the party’s Council of Torah Sages still supported him, Ynet reported. Shas won six seats, its lowest total since 1988 and down from 11 in 2022, according to Israel National News.

Netanyahu’s first statement since election night

In a recorded video released as the talks began, Netanyahu called for “a broad national government led by Likud, under my leadership, that includes all components of the national camp and all Zionist parties willing to join.” He said the Arab-led parties “reject the very existence of a Jewish state” and that a government depending on them “would simply tear us apart from within,” according to Ynet’s translation.

He accused opposition leaders of seeking “a narrow minority government” and said they “prefer their political interests over the national interest.” He also repeated his claim of “serious suspicions of foreign countries intervening with enormous sums of money” in the vote, and endorsed a Shin Bet inquiry ordered by the elections committee chairman: “We must get to the full truth, without a cover-up and without delay.” The committee had already certified the results, as our report on the certified Israel election results details.

Opposition parties have said they will not form a government that depends on Arab parties, but it is unclear how they could reach a majority without at least some Arab lawmakers’ support, Ynet noted. Yashar! said it had finished a first round of negotiations with Beyachad, the Democrats and Yisrael Beiteinu aimed at forming a “national emergency government,” with more meetings scheduled.

By the numbers: the recommendation count

The Boston Report added up each party’s seats from the Central Elections Committee’s final allocation against its announced recommendation:

• Eisenkot, 56 seats: Yashar! 21, Beyachad 12, Democrats 8, Ra’am 8 and Yisrael Beiteinu 7.
• Netanyahu, 46 seats: Likud 27, Otzma Yehudit 7, Shas 6 and Religious Zionism-Zehut 6.
• Not committed, 18 seats: the Joint List 11 and UTJ 7.

By that count, Eisenkot leads by 10 seats, or about 22% more support than Netanyahu, but is still five short of 61. If the Joint List recommends him, his total would reach 67, the Jerusalem Post calculated. Netanyahu is 15 seats short, and even if all of UTJ came back to him he would have 53, eight short. Before Ra’am’s announcement, Haaretz had Eisenkot ahead only 48 to 46.

What happens next

Under Israeli law, Herzog gives the mandate to the lawmaker he judges most likely to form a coalition, not automatically to the leader of the largest party or the candidate with the most recommendations. If Eisenkot receives it, he would have up to 42 days to build a government, the Times of Israel reported, and resistance inside his own camp to working with either the Arab or the Haredi parties will make that difficult. Other outcomes floated include a unity government or a minority government. Netanyahu’s legal battle is running in parallel; our companion story covers where his corruption trial and pardon request stand. For more world news, see our World Affairs hub.

Sources

• Times of Israel: As Herzog consults party heads, Haredi faction says it won’t recommend Netanyahu as PM
• Jerusalem Post: RZP, Shas recommend Netanyahu, Liberman backs Eisenkot in talks with Herzog
• Ynet: Netanyahu says only unity government under his leadership can confront threat of radical Islam
• Central Elections Committee: 26th Knesset elections, final results and allocation of seats

Additional sources

• Ynet: Herzog begins coalition talks as Eisenkot, Netanyahu vie for mandate
• Haaretz: Israel’s next PM, what you need to know as presidential consultations begin
• Yeshiva World News: UTJ won’t recommend Netanyahu as Liberman’s party backs Eisenkot
• Israel National News: Final results, 53 seats for Netanyahu bloc, 48 for opposition