Jerusalem, 4 November, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Representatives of Israel’s political parties arrive at the President’s Residence Wednesday morning for two days of consultations on whom to task with forming the next government. Yashar! Chairman Gadi Eisenkot has the backing of a majority of recommenders and is expected to receive the mandate first.
However, potential coalition partners are already complicating his efforts. At Tuesday’s opposition-bloc meeting, Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman blamed Eisenkot for the bloc’s election failure and opposed including even one Arab party in a future government.
Beyachad chairman Naftali Bennett invoked the bloc’s “pact of the servers,” a principle that excludes both Arab parties and Haredi factions. Meanwhile, Bennett’s co-leader, Yair Lapid, is slated to become Knesset speaker, giving the Bennett-Lapid partnership considerable leverage over Eisenkot’s government.
Eisenkot will have 28 days to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension.
