Israel is a complicated electoral mash-up of many political parties reflecting the wide ideological, national, and religious spectrum of Israel’s population. Though Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog, after interviewing all the Israeli political party heads that won at least 3.25 percent of the voting (the requirement to earn Knesset seats) on Sunday charged Gadi Eisenkot, the leader of the Yashar Party and the 4-party Zionist anti-Netanyahu bloc to form the next government. Though Eisenkot got the most recommendations by the leaders of Israel’s successful political parties (Jewish and Arab) equaling 67 Knesset seats (out of a total of 120 seats), his success in forming a governing coalition is not a “slam dunk.”
For casual observers of Israeli politics from afar, especially from the United States, it is wrong for us to project our political assumptions based on our unique federal, state and local governing traditions onto Israel.
Therefore, the questions include – what does the Israeli election mean and what will be necessary in forming a ruling governing coalition?
In the past week, two outstanding analysis pieces (among many) have appeared that I believe can help us understand the challenge facing the former army chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkot, in his effort to form a new ruling coalition government:
The first is the In These Times Podcast interview hosted by Rabbi Ammi Hirsch of the Stephen S. Wise Free Synagogue in New York City of David Horovitz, the founder and head of Israel’s daily Times of Israel – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z4rzGxzouo
The second is an article in The Jewish Telegraphic Agency – “Eisenkot moves closer to ousting Netanyahu. Here’s what could come next – There are several different paths the Yashar party leader could take – but all of them have obstacles,” by Tomer Almagor, November 7, 2026 – https://www.jta.org/2026/11/06/israel/eisenkot-moves-closer-to-ousting-netanyahu-heres-what-could-come-next?utm_source=JTA_Iterable&utm_campaign=JTA_DB&utm_medium=email.
After listening to and reading these pieces, a number of things will be clear: Israel remains a vital parliamentary democracy, but with substantial weaknesses – forming a ruling coalition government will not be easily done – the process will take time, perhaps months – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lost 25 percent of his political strength in this election for a number of reasons, discussed in the conversation with David Horovitz – a historical record high of 80 percent of Israeli citizens voted – there is no perfect solution to Israel’s political challenges – compromise will be necessary to form a coalition government – should Eisenkot or Netanyahu be unable to form a government, new elections will be necessary.
