Israel's new parliament to be sworn in as leaders compete to form government

Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday tasked Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief and leader of the center-right Yashar party, with forming the country's next government, Time Magazine reported. Eisenkot has 28 days, through December 6, with a possible 14-day extension, to assemble a coalition that can win a confidence vote in the 120-seat Knesset. The October 27 election produced no majority: Netanyahu's Likud and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies won 53 seats, the four Jewish-led parties backing Eisenkot — Yashar, B'Yachad, Democrats, and Yisrael Beytenu — earned 48, and two Arab-led parties hold a record 19 seats. During consultations last week, 67 Knesset members endorsed Eisenkot while 46 backed Netanyahu. Steven Cook, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told Time Magazine that Herzog concluded Eisenkot had a better chance to form the necessary coalition despite Netanyahu's party receiving the most votes. "More Israelis voted for parties that oppose Netanyahu than voted for parties that support Netanyahu," Cook said. The clearest path for Eisenkot would be securing support from the two Arab-led parties, the Joint List and Ra'am, for their 19 seats. However, Time Magazine reported that only Yair Golan, chairman of the Democrats, has publicly supported a coalition with them. Naftali Bennett of B'Yachad and Avigdor Lieberman of Yisrael Beytenu oppose relying on Arab partners. The Joint List has said it would support an alternative government from outside the coalition, but Lieberman has rejected a government reliant on outside support from Arab-led parties. Shira Efron, a senior fellow at Rand, noted the opposition bloc has already agreed to appoint Matan Kahana of Yashar as Knesset Speaker and Lieberman as Head of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, reflecting a distinct vision for parliament and weakening Netanyahu before a government is formed. The Knesset swearing-in was completed on Tuesday, The Times of Israel reported, kicking off the new parliament with no government in sight, as The New York Times noted.