Eisenkot Needs 19 Arab Seats to Block Netanyahu's 53

Local media projections released Wednesday placed Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and its allies at 53 seats in the Knesset. That number falls short of the 61 seats required to form a government. Gadi Eisenkot’s centrist Yashar party and its allied bloc currently hold 48 seats. The remaining 19 seats are held by Arab-led parties, creating a narrow path to power for the former military chief.

Eisenkot, 66, commanded the Israel Defense Forces for four decades before entering politics. He is the son of Moroccan-Jewish immigrants and lost his 25-year-old son, Gal Meir Eisenkot, in combat in Gaza. Two of his nephews also died in the conflict. These personal losses have shaped his public image as a leader willing to demand strict military discipline and accountability.

Initial exit polls on Tuesday suggested a major defeat for the current prime minister. Eisenkot addressed supporters in Tel Aviv late Tuesday, declaring that millions of Israelis were tired of division. "We have made history!" he shouted from his podium. He stated that the night marked the start of a path toward a Zionist government.

Preliminary results from the elections commission have since shown Likud pulling ahead. However, neither bloc commands a majority alone. Netanyahu and many Likud members have ruled out forming a coalition with minority Arab parties. Eisenkot has not made the same exclusion. His potential government would require a partnership with the Joint List of Arab parties to reach the necessary seat count.

Yousef Jabareen, who leads the Joint List, is demanding a Jewish-Arab partnership to replace the current government. His party secured a strong showing in Tuesday's vote. To prevent defections from his right-wing allies, Eisenkot has requested that Arab parties publicly agree to four specific principles. These include recognizing Israel as a Jewish and democratic state and acknowledging Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Yashar candidate Lian Polak-David told the Associated Press on Tuesday that no current ultra-Orthodox or Arab party fully supports all four requested principles. The coalition faces a tight timeline. If Eisenkot and the Arab leaders cannot reach an agreement soon, Israel risks a second round of elections. Thousands of citizens who traveled abroad to vote in the first round may not return for a second count.

Eisenkot has outlined a platform that includes a state inquiry into the failures of October 7, 2023. On that date, Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. The subsequent war in Gaza has killed over 74,000 Palestinians, according to the territory's health ministry. Eisenkot also supports evacuating unauthorized settler outposts in the West Bank and following President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza.

The former commander served as an observer in Netanyahu’s war cabinet after the October 7 attacks. He resigned in June 2024, citing the influence of politics on military decision-making. Eisenkot remains a hawk who supported operations in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. He is credited with formulating the Dahiyeh Doctrine, a strategy advocating disproportionate force against any entity that fires on Israel.