By Lena Marchetti
BUFFALO — Israel’s president told the country’s party leaders Sunday to “stop climbing trees” and accept an election that gave no one a majority. On Wednesday he starts the formal process of picking someone to try to form a government. That person is likely to be former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, not Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The election results are an established fact – they are the reality. And now is the time to tell all the leaders: Stop climbing trees and position yourselves in front of this reality,” President Isaac Herzog said at a state memorial ceremony for Chaim Weizmann, Israel’s first president, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Mr. Herzog said he would receive the official results on Wednesday from Justice Noam Sohlberg, who chairs the Central Elections Committee, and then open consultations with every Knesset faction. “I hope the representatives will come with open minds, and I add that they should come with open hearts, to listen and share ideas and find creative solutions to prevent another election,” he said.
The arithmetic
Mr. Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, and the opposition bloc won 48. Both are short of the 61 needed for a majority, The Post reported. Ra’am and the Joint List, the two Arab parties, won a combined 19 seats, a record.
The deadlock puts those parties at the center of the talks. A senior Joint List official told the Israeli news site Walla on Sunday that both parties are expected to recommend Mr. Eisenkot, who leads the Yashar! party. Added to the opposition’s 48, that would give him 67 recommendations. Whoever gets the mandate has 28 days to form a coalition, with a possible 14-day extension.
Mr. Eisenkot has set out conditions for any partner, The Post reported. They must agree on Israel’s fundamental character, national service obligations and the need to eliminate Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in Gaza. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad party said Sunday it would recommend Mr. Eisenkot, Ynet reported. The ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party said it would not recommend anyone for now.
A minority-government option, and its critics
Mr. Eisenkot has approved a study of a minority government, Ynet reported. It would take office by 49 votes to 46, with 25 lawmakers abstaining: United Torah Judaism’s seven, seven of Ra’am’s eight and the Joint List’s 11. An Israeli government needs more yes votes than no votes to take office, not an absolute majority.
The plan has a problem inside Mr. Eisenkot’s own bloc. Avigdor Liberman of Yisrael Beytenu has said he will not join a government that depends on Arab or ultra-Orthodox parties, “either directly or indirectly,” Ynet reported. Asked about the report, Yashar! said: “We are working with tremendous commitment to fulfill the voters’ desire to replace the government responsible for the failures. At this stage, we will not comment on what takes place behind closed doors.”
Likud attacked the opposition’s outreach to the Arab parties. “Eisenkot and his partners are trampling on the trust of Israel’s citizens. They are breaking all their promises regarding cooperation with parties that support terrorism and are working to form a government with them,” the party said in a statement Sunday.
In private, Mr. Netanyahu has not ruled out a unity government with a rotating premiership, Ynet’s Yuval Karni reported. “We are examining everything. I am not completely ruling out any option,” he said in closed-door discussions, according to the report. One of his associates said, “No proposal to form a unity government has been made yet.”
United Torah Judaism is divided. “Eisenkot? Who would go with him? He hasn’t even called us,” said Meir Porush, a senior figure in the party.
The Speaker fight and the Jan. 1 deadline
The new Knesset is to be sworn in Nov. 10. Opposition leaders have reportedly agreed that their first move will be to try to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana of Likud, which would give them more control of the parliamentary agenda even if Mr. Netanyahu stays on as caretaker prime minister, The Post reported. Coalition Chairman Ofir Katz warned Sunday that ousting Mr. Ohana would rule out a unity government, according to Ynet.
A judicial overhaul passed by the current coalition adds pressure. A senior figure in the change bloc, who is not a member of Mr. Eisenkot’s party, warned Sunday that “all the judicial overhaul laws passed by the current coalition will take effect on January 1, 2027,” unless the whole bloc backs Mr. Eisenkot, Ynet reported.
Washington’s role
President Donald Trump endorsed Mr. Netanyahu before the vote, and as the count began on election day he said the prime minister had done well. “I hear he did very well. It’s pretty close, very good,” Mr. Trump said Oct. 27, The Independent reported. “When the endorsement came out, it helped him a lot.”
Mr. Eisenkot has said he expects good relations with the White House whoever wins. “Trump is a true friend of Israel. I appreciate his efforts and commitment to Israel’s security, and I am convinced that he will work in full cooperation with any leader elected by the people,” he said Oct. 26, according to a KAN 11 report carried by All Israel News.
Asked how long it could take to form a government and what that would mean for relations with Washington, the Consulate General of Israel in New York said in an email to The Buffalo Chronicle: “The Consulate does not have guidance on the timeline for forming a government, as this is not something we are able to predict. Regardless, U.S.-Israel cooperation remains strong and should not be impacted by a transition.”
Consultations at the President’s Residence are set to begin Wednesday, the day after Americans vote in the midterm elections.
Updated November 2, 2026: This story was updated to include comment from the Consulate General of Israel in New York.
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