Update from Israel: Eisenkot tasked with forming Israel's next government

November 12, 2026

Prepared by and sent from Jewish Federations of North America's Israel Office

  • Eisenkot tasked with forming Israel's next government
  • New Knesset sworn in
  • Liberman drops veto on ultra-Orthodox parties in order to block Netanyahu
  • Reports: US military aid to Israel to continue through 2033

Forming a Government

  • On Sunday, President Isaac Herzog formally tasked Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming the next government, after 67 of the 120 MKs recommended him: Yashar, B'Yachad, the Democrats, Yisrael Beytenu, Ra'am, and the Joint List. Forty-six MKs from Likud, Otzma Yehudit, Shas, and Religious Zionism recommended Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. United Torah Judaism recommended no one.
  • "I expect you to do everything in your power to establish a government that will serve the entire people, those who supported it and those who did not," Herzog told Eisenkot at the ceremony at the President's Residence.
  • Eisenkot said, "With the mandate entrusted to me here today, I will lead the establishment of a national emergency government," adding, "This will require creative and unconventional political acts." He said, "No one will be able to fulfill all the [campaign] promises they made, and all of us will need to compromise."
  • Eisenkot invited Likud and Religious Zionism to join, saying, "My door is open and my hand is extended, wholeheartedly and willingly," on the basis of four principles: Israel as a Jewish and democratic state; the values of the Declaration of Independence; mandatory national service for all; and recognizing Hamas as a terrorist organization committed to Israel's destruction.
  • Eisenkot has 28 days to try to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension. If he fails, Netanyahu is expected to get 28 days, after which 61 MKs would have 21 days to ask the President to task a different specific candidate. Coalition talks could last up to 13 weeks before a new election is triggered. Netanyahu remains prime minister until a new government is finalized.
  • Asked about Eisenkot receiving the mandate, President Trump, who endorsed Netanyahu before the election, said, "They're very similar in terms of their policy."

Coalition Talks

  • In a major reversal, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman said he is willing to "be flexible and compromise" on drafting ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students in order to bring the ultra-Orthodox parties into an Eisenkot government. Liberman has long refused to sit with the ultra-Orthodox parties, and his refusal set off Israel's 2019 political crisis.
  • Liberman set three red lines: ending Netanyahu's premiership, no additional elections, and no government relying on the Arab parties, including through Ra'am's abstention. He also rejected a rotation as prime minister. "Being willing to compromise does not mean giving up values and principles," he said on Sunday.
  • Liberman proposed his own 2018 draft bill, written when he was defense minister, as a basis for talks. It sets annual enlistment targets for yeshiva students and financial sanctions on yeshivas that miss them, but no personal sanctions on individual students. See an explainer here, by Anna Barsky of the Jerusalem Post.
  • Dan Illouz, No. 10 on Yisrael Beytenu's list, quit the party over the shift, saying, "You can't give up on the draft law."
  • United Torah Judaism chairman MK Yaakov Asher said, "It is heartening to see the flexibility displayed by all political players." Ultra-Orthodox newspapers have demanded "guarantees" that any agreement will be honored. The Sephardi ultra-Orthodox Shas party has not signaled openness to joining an Eisenkot government, and says it remains committed to Netanyahu.
  • On Monday, Eisenkot and Liberman agreed to open talks with Shas and United Torah Judaism, Israeli media reported. The ultra-Orthodox parties are expected to seek a transition period of a year or more with no sanctions or arrests of draft evaders while a new law is negotiated.
  • B'Yachad leader Naftali Bennett, whose 12 seats are essential to any Eisenkot coalition, has not said publicly whether he would back a government relying on the ultra-Orthodox parties. B'Yachad MK Yonatan Shalev said, "We will not compromise on this issue," referring to military service.
  • Israeli media reported that Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas has agreed in principle to Eisenkot's condition that his party formally recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization. "We are unequivocally against terrorism and violence against any person," Abbas said. Likud responded, "Likud opposes any cooperation with parties that support terrorism."

The 26th Knesset

  • The 26th Knesset was sworn in on Tuesday. Forty-seven of its 120 members are new.
  • One in ten MKs has lost a family member to terror or war, including Eisenkot, whose son Gal and nephew Maor fell in Gaza. Yashar MK Shira Shapira, whose son Aner was killed on October 7 after throwing back grenades that Hamas terrorists threw into a roadside shelter, visited his grave before being sworn in. The plenum rose in a standing ovation for Likud MK Elisha Madan, who lost both legs fighting in Gaza, as he stood on his prosthetics to take the oath.
  • Opening the session, President Herzog said, "Nearly 80% of the public chose you, and you must do everything possible to avoid another election." He added, "We must leave no stone unturned, investigate and understand how the October 7 disaster happened, and draw lessons and conclusions."
  • Several Arab lawmakers left the chamber during Hatikvah, Israel's national anthem. Ra'am's Abbas remained standing alongside UTJ's Asher.
  • At a reception after the ceremony, Netanyahu called for a national unity government: "In the face of these threats, we must do one thing in this house: put every other consideration aside and establish a national unity government." He then attacked the Arab parties: "To those considering forming a government that includes, or relies upon, supporters of terrorism who hate Israel, what do you think their true goal is? ... You fail to understand what they really seek to achieve."
  • Bennett interrupted the speech, calling out, "What about your Qatari advisers? ... What about the October 7 investigation?" Eisenkot called it a "hate-filled" speech and canceled the first scheduled negotiating meeting between Yashar and Likud representatives.
  • The following day, Netanyahu said, "I am prepared to enter into talks right now with any party that wants to discuss this," adding, "The party that should naturally lead this government is the largest party."
  • On Tuesday, 67 MKs submitted a request to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana of Likud with Yashar's Matan Kahana, a former minister. Ohana set the vote for next Tuesday at 4 p.m., saying, "Despite my strong opposition to the intentions of the emerging coalition, I will act as I promised and respect the will of the majority of Knesset members." United Torah Judaism declined to sign the request.
  • On the Knesset's first day, Yashar submitted bills to set up a state commission of inquiry into October 7 and to limit prime ministers to eight years in office. The Eisenkot-led bloc also submitted bills to repeal changes made by the outgoing government as part of its judicial overhaul. B'Yachad's Yair Lapid submitted a bill to anchor the Declaration of Independence in a Basic Law.

US-Israel Relations

  • US military aid will not end this year, despite President Trump's Election Day announcement, Israeli media reported. Under a new memorandum of understanding being negotiated, Israel would receive about $3.3 billion a year in military financing for five years after the current agreement expires in 2028, rather than 10, totaling about $16.5 billion, after which direct aid would end. Funding for joint missile defense, currently $500 million a year, is expected to grow.
  • Prime Minister Netanyahu said, "We are moving here from a model of aid to a model of partnership." The two sides aim to finalize the deal before the new Congress takes office in January.
  • On Tuesday, a dozen Senate Democrats led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) urged congressional leaders to remove provisions on US-Israel military and intelligence cooperation from the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act.
  • On Monday, 13 Republican state attorneys general, led by Iowa's Brenna Bird, wrote to the British and Dutch ambassadors in Washington urging them "to rescind or halt implementation of the recently enacted trade sanctions against Israel or any component of Israel." They warned of state-level responses, including under state anti-boycott laws.

Iran

  • After meeting Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Monday, President Trump said the US will not launch a renewed offensive against Iran for now, citing "positive momentum" toward ending the conflict. He said the US remains "locked and loaded" if needed, and that "Israel, and the entire Middle East, are protected from Iranian danger and threats."
  • Foreign media reported that Netanyahu has been calling Trump daily urging him to resume the war against Iran.
  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he did not think the US was "on the verge of a breakthrough," calling Iran's demands "outrageous and ridiculous, and really not realistic." Iranian security council chief Mohsen Rezaei said the US should "stop manufacturing fake news about imaginary talks."

Other News

  • On Monday, IDF and Border Police forces arrested 10 Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives in Arrabe, near Jenin, who the IDF said were planning an attack on Israeli civilians. Forces raided 10 locations simultaneously and made all the arrests within about 30 minutes.
  • The Prime Minister's Office said Israel has facilitated a winter aid plan for Gaza, including more than 91,000 tents and more than 8,200 trucks of winter clothing and supplies, but that reconstruction cannot begin until Hamas disarms. "Hamas has not surrendered a single weapon," the PMO said.
  • Israeli media aired recordings of police investigations chief Maj. Gen. Boaz Balat describing how criminal cases are left in the "drawer" and later used as leverage. Netanyahu said, "The State Attorney's Office that Balat describes belongs in East Germany's Stasi, not in the State of Israel."
  • Neria Leiter, son of Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, was discharged from Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center and moved to a rehabilitation facility. He was critically injured in a terror attack at the West Bank checkpoint where he was stationed. He remains in serious condition.
  • Jarosława Lewicka, the last living Righteous Among the Nations in Israel, died at 91. During World War II, her family helped Jews in their hometown of Zolochiv, now in Ukraine.

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