Eisenkot Struggles to Forge 67-Seat Israeli Bloc After Netanyahu Loses Majority
Updated
Updated · CNN · Nov 11
Eisenkot Struggles to Forge 67-Seat Israeli Bloc After Netanyahu Loses Majority
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Nov 11
Summary
Eisenkot has 28 days to turn a paper majority of 67 Knesset seats into a government, but the bloc spans six ideologically opposed parties and has not agreed to govern together.
His preferred route is a 48-seat minority coalition of four Jewish opposition parties, kept afloat by outside backing from two Arab parties because Israeli law requires only a simple majority to install a cabinet.
Liberman is the main obstacle: he rejects any government reliant on Arab parties and instead wants a 61-seat coalition with ultra-Orthodox parties, despite sharp clashes over military draft exemptions.
Netanyahu, reduced to 46 committed lawmakers, remains caretaker prime minister and is pushing a unity government on his terms while the opposition moves to use its Knesset majority to replace key parliamentary officeholders.
If Eisenkot cannot close a deal, he can seek a 14-day extension; failure could hand the mandate to another candidate and eventually trigger another election, leaving Netanyahu in office in the meantime.
Will the explosive debate over drafting ultra-Orthodox men derail Gadi Eisenkot's unprecedented attempt to form an Arab-backed minority government in Israel?
Can a former IDF chief unite Israel's fractured parliament, or will deep ideological divides over wartime policies force yet another national election?