President Herzog to Name Government Formator This Sunday

President Isaac Herzog will announce on Sunday, November 8, which lawmaker will be tasked with forming Israel's next government following the October 27 elections. Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar! party and former IDF chief, emerged as the frontrunner after securing 67 recommendations from Knesset members, surpassing the 61-seat majority threshold. Incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received 46 recommendations, a tally that dropped after the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party declined to recommend any candidate to pressure the government on military service exemptions for religious students.

Eisenkot's numerical lead is driven by a 48-seat Jewish opposition bloc and record gains by Arab-led parties, including Ra'am and the Joint List, who together hold 19 seats. However, Herzog cautioned that "mutual vetoes between the blocs and within the blocs themselves" make the ability to form a stable government unclear. Potential coalitions are complicated by Avigdor Liberman's refusal to serve with Arab parties and Mansour Abbas's refusal to label Hamas a terrorist organization, a condition set by Eisenkot.

Netanyahu and his allies challenged the election results, alleging foreign interference and fraud regarding Arab voter turnout. President Herzog and the Central Elections Committee dismissed these claims as unsubstantiated, and Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg warned that delegitimizing the process is dangerous. Amid the deadlock, U.S. President Donald Trump announced an agreement with Netanyahu to end nearly $4 billion in annual military aid to Israel by the end of the year.