NO MAJORITY. NO NETANYAHU. 28 DAYS TO SAVE ISRAEL — OR PLUNGE IT BACK INTO CHAOS.
GREATRIBUNETVNEWS–THE King Is Out. The General Is In. And The Clock Is Already Ticking.
JERUSALEM POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE
JERUSALEM — For years, Benjamin Netanyahu was Israel.
He survived wars. He survived trials. He survived elections that were supposed to end him.
Not this time.
Last week, Israel went to the polls — and nobody won. No bloc. No majority. No kingmaker. Just a deadlocked Knesset and a nation holding its breath.
For days, President Isaac Herzog listened. Party after party. Leader after leader. Behind closed doors, the old order crumbled.
Then came the earthquake.
Herzog did not call Netanyahu. He called the opposition. He called the general.
Gadi Eisenkot — ex-Army chief, soldier turned centrist, the man who has buried soldiers and buried politics — now holds Israel’s future in his hands.
He has 28 days. Just 28 days. Maybe 14 more if he begs for it. To do what no one else could do: build a government out of a broken parliament.
Eisenkot knows what is at stake. He wrote it himself:
A national emergency government. Now. Or nothing.
This is not a normal coalition talk. This is Israel deciding, in 28 days, whether it will be governed — or whether it will go back to chaos, to another election, to another deadlock, while war and division wait at the door.
The clock has started. And all of Israel is watching.
THE SHOCKER:
Israel Shocker: President Dumps Netanyahu, Hands Opposition’s Eisenkot 28 Days To Form Government”
THE EARTHQUAKE:
“Israel’s presidency has delivered a political earthquake.”
“President Isaac Herzog will task opposition leader and ex-Army chief Gadi Eisenkot with forming the next government — not Benjamin Netanyahu.”
HOW IT HAPPENED:
“Herzog reached the decision after days of consultations with parties following last week’s deadlocked Knesset election where no bloc won a majority.”
THE CLOCK IS TICKING:
“Eisenkot now has 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension, to build a coalition.”
EISENKOT SPEAKS:
“Now is the time to form a national emergency government. I will do everything to ensure we are worthy,” the centrist Yashar leader wrote on X after getting the nod.”
THE BOTTOM LINE:
No majority. No Netanyahu. 28 days to save Israel — or plunge it back into chaos.
—The numbers that changed everything:—
120 seats in Knesset.
– Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud + far-right + ultra-Orthodox allies: 53 seats
– Eisenkot’s Yashar + three other Jewish opposition parties: 48 seats
– Arab-led blocs — United Arab List + Joint List: 19 seats — unprecedented surge after massive Arab turnout
No party ever wins outright in Israel. Every government is a coalition.
Netanyahu’s 53 is short of 61. Eisenkot’s 48 is even shorter. The 19 Arab seats are the kingmakers — but all but one Jewish party swore before the election never to work with them.
Herzog said Eisenkot got 67 recommendations for prime minister, Netanyahu got 46. The president is not bound to pick the largest party — just the person most likely to build a coalition.
The statement from Herzog’s office said both men have been informed.
—Three possible paths:—
1. A national unity government — Netanyahu + Eisenkot together, like the 2020 Netanyahu-Gantz rotation deal that ended three deadlocked elections.
2. A right-wing government — Netanyahu poaching defectors from Eisenkot’s bloc.
3. An Eisenkot-led government propped up by Arab parties — something Eisenkot and all but one member of his bloc vowed not to do, but speculation is rife a deal could be struck.
He could also try to woo ultra-Orthodox parties away from Netanyahu — another hard sell.
Herzog warned parties during consultations: To avoid yet another election and build a stable government, “not every commitment and promise can be fulfilled” — a clear signal to drop the anti-Arab pledge.
Between 2019 and 2022, Israel went through five elections as Netanyahu and rivals failed to co-operate.
Now Eisenkot — the retired general turned centrist insurgent — has first shot at breaking the deadlock.
CREDIT : BBC EXCEPT THE HEADLINE INTRO AND SOME PARAGRAPHS
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