Eisenkot pledges emergency government as Knesset opens amid Netanyahu clash

Knesset opens without a clear path to government

The 26th Knesset held its inaugural session on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, when its 120 members took their oaths, two weeks after the 27 October election left no obvious majority. On Sunday, 8 November, President Isaac Herzog gave Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, the mandate to form a government. Eisenkot has 28 days to assemble a coalition, extendable by 14 days. Speaking in the chamber, Herzog urged party leaders to make concessions and do everything possible to avoid a second election, and noted that almost 77% of voters cast ballots.

Herzog also tied domestic stability to foreign policy, saying:

“Alongside the stubborn and determined war against those who seek to harm us, we must build a stable political horizon in the region with our neighbours.”

Seat arithmetic and the Arab parties

Eisenkot's change bloc of four Jewish-based forces won 48 seats, 13 short of the 61 needed for a majority. Two Arab parties, Ra'am and the Joint List, hold 19 seats between them, and their support would give the bloc a comfortable majority. Eisenkot has accepted that option with conditions, whereas Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu, which holds seven seats, rejects any government that depends on Arab backing. Lieberman opposes even a minority government supported from outside by those parties. Kan reported that Eisenkot is also negotiating with the two ultra-Orthodox parties that had previously backed Netanyahu. Those parties resist ending the military exemptions the opposition demands, and Eisenkot has said military service must apply to everyone.

Eisenkot change bloc48

Arab parties (Ra'am and Joint List)19

Yisrael Beiteinu7

Eisenkot change bloc

48 seats

Arab parties (Ra'am and Joint List)

19 seats

Yisrael Beiteinu

7 seats

Data from the article text

October 7 inquiry and judicial reform

The opposition has tabled a bill to set up a state commission of inquiry into the security failures before the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023, which killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and saw 251 hostages taken. Netanyahu has refused to create such a commission, rejects claims that he bears personal responsibility, and has blamed his security services for not waking him that morning. The opposition also wants term limits for the prime minister and the repeal of laws passed under the outgoing government's judicial overhaul. Three days before the vote, about 100,000 people rallied in Tel Aviv demanding the inquiry.

Speaker vote and a hostile opening session

The opposition wants to replace Amir Ohana, the Likud speaker, with Matan Kahana, a former minister nominated by Yashar after days of talks with the opposition bloc. Ohana has set the vote for next Tuesday, 17 November, which the report describes as the last possible day. Netanyahu's speech attacked the Arab parties as a Trojan horse seeking to destroy Israel, and repeated claims of foreign aid to them. He said Iran was working to revive its nuclear threat and urged a national unity government. Naftali Bennett interrupted him to ask about advisers who had received Qatari money, and was met with shouts from Itamar Ben-Gvir and Netanyahu's wife, Sara. Ben-Gvir separately insulted Youssef Jabareen, leader of the Joint List, by asking whether he pledged allegiance to Hamas, and several Joint List members walked out during the Hatikvah anthem. Eisenkot called the speech divisive and full of hate, saying it convinced him that Netanyahu cannot remain in office.