# President Herzog faces key choice as Israel struggles to form government

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/president-herzog-faces-key-choice-as-israel-struggles-to-form-government/
- Published: 2026-11-07T05:16:18+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-07T06:22:08+00:00
- Original publisher: Al Jazeera (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/7/president-herzog-faces-key-choice-as-israel-struggles-to-form-government?traffic_source=rss
- Topics: Government, Middle East, Politics, World

## Key points

- Herzog must choose who gets the first chance to form a government.
- Eisenkot has more endorsements but has ruled out Arab-led parties in government.
- No bloc has the 61 seats needed for a majority.

## Summary

President Isaac Herzog must decide who will get the first chance to form Israel’s next government after October’s election left every bloc short of a majority. Former army chief Gadi Eisenkot has more lawmakers’ endorsements than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but his refusal to bring Arab-led parties into government leaves his path to power uncertain.

Eisenkot was endorsed by 67 of the 120 Knesset members consulted, compared with 46 for Netanyahu; 61 seats are needed for a majority. Netanyahu’s alliance holds 53 seats, while four Jewish-led parties supporting Eisenkot have 48 and Arab-led parties have 19. Eisenkot could seek support from ultra-Orthodox parties or form a minority government with outside backing, while a unity government is another possibility.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.