{"id":4176,"date":"2026-11-11T09:03:51","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T04:03:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=4176"},"modified":"2026-11-11T09:03:51","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T04:03:51","slug":"israels-parliament-sworn-in-as-eisenkot-tries-to-forge-a-govt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=4176","title":{"rendered":"Israel’s parliament sworn in as Eisenkot tries to forge a govt"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Israel\u2019s parliament was sworn in on Tuesday without a new \u200bgovernment, after a deadlocked general election stripped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of his parliamentary majority but left his main rivals with no clear path \u200cto power<\/u><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lawmakers elected in the October 27 vote took their oaths of office as Gadi Eisenkot, a former general, sought to forge a coalition after Israel\u2019s president tasked him on Sunday<\/u><\/a> with forming a government.<\/p>\n

Eisenkot<\/u><\/a> and his allies also lack a majority, and he has yet to strike deals with parties that could bring him to power.<\/p>\n

If both Eisenkot and Netanyahu fail to form coalitions, another \u200belection could follow.<\/p>\n

Presiding over the swearing-in ceremony, President Isaac Herzog told lawmakers: \u201cYou must do everything to avoid a repeat election.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReach out a hand for compromise, \u200beven between rivals\u2026 Look upon one another with generosity. There is much work to be done here, and it requires the ability \u2060and experience found in every part of this House.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a>October 7 inquiry<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Netanyahu remains caretaker prime minister until a new candidate manages to \u200bform a coalition.<\/p>\n

His radical Likud party\u2019s alliance with extremist and ultra-Orthodox parties outperformed election expectations but still lost its majority, now holding 53 of the Knesset\u2019s 120 seats.<\/p>\n

Eisenkot\u2019s \u200bcentre-right Yashar party and patchwork partner factions hold just 48 seats.<\/p>\n

But they have potential allies in Israel\u2019s Arab-led parties, which hold 19 seats and are aligned with Eisenkot in their vehement opposition to Netanyahu.<\/p>\n

This means that the newly sworn-in parliament could still deliver on some of Eisenkot\u2019s campaign promises, such as potentially setting up a commission of inquiry into the October 7, 2023 \u200battacks, something backed by the Arab parties but largely opposed by Netanyahu.<\/p>\n

It also could allow Eisenkot to replace the current Knesset Speaker, a Likud member.<\/p>\n

Herzog told Knesset members \u200bthat parliament was \u201cduty-bound to leave no stone unturned\u201d in investigating and understanding the \u201ccatastrophe\u201d of October 7, while Israel continues to face threats from Iran and its proxies.<\/p>\n

Eisenkot initially has until December \u200c6 to \u2060form a government, but he can seek a two-week extension to December 20.<\/p>\n

He has acknowledged his path to power is \u201cextraordinarily complex\u201d.<\/p>\n

His options include trying to form a minority government with Arab party support<\/u><\/a>, bringing ultra-Orthodox parties into his camp despite years of mutual hostility, or forging a unity government with Netanyahu.<\/p>\n

All three paths face formidable obstacles.<\/p>\n

Ultra-Orthodox parties have so far said they would not join an Eisenkot-led government.<\/p>\n

For his part, Netanyahu has cast doubt on the election results by baselessly alleging voter fraud by Arabs, who \u200bmake up a fifth of the population. \u200b<\/p>\n

Election officials have said they are \u2060probing potential misconduct, but that they have seen no evidence of fraud that could have influenced the vote\u2019s outcome.<\/p>\n

Speaking after parliament was sworn in, Netanyahu called for a unity government, warning that Iran was seeking to revive its nuclear programme and that Israel \u200bcould come under growing international pressure to accept a nuclear-armed Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly such a (unity) government will be capable of confronting challenges \u200bof this magnitude,\u201d he \u2060said.<\/p>\n

If Eisenkot fails to form a government, Herzog would likely ask Netanyahu to try to build a coalition.<\/p>\n

If he also fails, another candidate would get a chance before Israel would be forced into another election.<\/p>\n

Moments after the official opening of parliament, Eisenkot and his allies submitted a series of bills, including legislation to establish a state commission of inquiry into \u2060the October \u200b7 attacks and to impose term limits on the prime minister.<\/p>\n

They also proposed repealing a controversial \u200bjudicial overhaul and other laws enacted under Netanyahu\u2019s government over the past four years.<\/p>\n

Among those sworn in on Tuesday was Elisha Madan, a military reservist who lost both legs fighting in Gaza.<\/p>\n

He received a \u200bstanding ovation from lawmakers as he rose on his prosthetic legs to take the oath of office.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Israel\u2019s parliament was sworn in on Tuesday without a new \u200bgovernment, after a deadlocked general election stripped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of his parliamentary majority but left his main rivals with no clear path \u200cto power. Lawmakers elected in the October 27 vote took their oaths of office as Gadi Eisenkot, a former general, sought to forge a coalition after Israel\u2019s president tasked him on Sunday with forming a government. Eisenkot and his allies also lack a majority, and he has yet to strike deals with parties that could bring…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4176\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}