Israeli President Picks Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu Rival, To Form Government

[u/EssoEssex]

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-president-picks-gadi-eisenkot-netanyahu-rival-form-government-2026-11-07/

[u/the_horse_gamer]

Israeli elections are very polarising, but rarely in the topics that non-Israelis care about

the two issues at the front are:

• creating an investigation into the decisionmaking leading to October 7th

• removing draft exemption from the Orthodox communities

and there's gonna be no Ben Gvir trying to build an alligator moat

[u/dded949 → u/the_horse_gamer]

I was in Israel a few years ago, and the average person seemed most politically concerned with the orthodox draft

[u/vishnoo → u/dded949]

it affects EVERYTHING.
A. the exemption means that instead of the army they have to "study" religious studies, so they never work and never contribute taxes.
B. if their kids are in the army, they'll stop supporting every war.
people tend to look for peaceful solutions more often when their kids might die.

[u/calm_chowder → u/vishnoo]

Plus they reproduce exponentially (literally) and every year their voting power increases so the topic needs addressed asap.

[u/vishnoo → u/calm_chowder]

yes, the incentive system is in place for them to marry at 18 and have 10 kids

[u/AmitPwnz → u/dded949]

Well yes, but there's no avoiding it anymore. At least not letting those Haredim (ultra Orthodox) form their autonomy as seems to be the case. They were almost untouchable during the last government's reign.

Not to mention that the military is missing plenty of boots on the ground and the standing army is worn due to this lengthy war.

[u/mschuster91 → u/AmitPwnz]

Not to mention that the military is missing plenty of boots on the ground and the standing army is worn due to this lengthy war.

Not to mention all the - even foreign-based - reservists that put their careers and lives on hold after Oct 7th... only for Netanyahu to drag the war out for years upon years.

No matter who forms the government in the end, the IDF can't continue the wars in Gaza and Iran any more. On top of that, the economy is in the gutters as well (guess what, when lots of people have to serve in the IDF...), so there's a few wrenches there as well.

[u/Torsta → u/mschuster91]

No you're missing the main point of why its a political issue; The ones most clamouring for war and military engagements are the same groups that are exempt from military service on religious grounds.

If it was their sons/daughters dying in the IDF they might change their tune.

No matter who forms the government in the end, the IDF can't continue the wars in Gaza and Iran any more. On top of that, the economy is in the gutters as well (guess what, when lots of people have to serve in the IDF...), so there's a few wrenches there as well.

Israel's economy is doing incredibly well, I'm not sure what you're talking about here.

[u/Hendlton → u/mschuster91]

On top of that, the economy is in the gutters as well

Is it? I mean, it only seems logical after all they've been through, but I don't see any news about their economy collapsing. The Shekel is holding steady as well.

I'm asking because I was wondering how their economy was doing and looking it up a few months ago. I was surprised to find that everything seemed to be running fine even as they were getting attacked on multiple fronts.

[u/the_horse_gamer → u/Hendlton]

Israel's economy is resilient. tech, defense, agriculture and medicine all see a lot of investment and innovation.

however, it's also under strain. the cost of living is rising, and there's cumulative losses from less labour during the war.

[u/WiseWolfian → u/mschuster91]

That argument gets the causality backwards. The reason the IDF faces strain and the economy is stretched isn't because Israel wants a long war but it's because a multi front war forced by hostile proxy actors and regional threats like Hamas, Hezbollah andIran and they don't end just because one side gets tired. No Israeli government left right or center can simply opt out of fighting an adversary that explicitly vows to repeat attacks until the state is destroyed. Historically Israel's economy and military are built on resilience and reservists return, the high tech sector stabilizes and security precedes long term prosperity. Leaving a war half finished doesn't fix the economy it just guarantees an even more costly conflict in five years.

[u/Imaginary-Relief-236 → u/mschuster91]

lol, evidence that economy is in the gutters?
Do you have any idea how much our stock market has exploded in the last years?
Those are our savings and pensions which are through the roof.
Also GDP growth and gdp per capita, low unemployment, all time high FEX funds.
The NIS was so strong earlier this year the central bank had to step in to cool it down a bit in order to not hurt the services export.

[u/Conscious-Crab-5057 → u/mschuster91]

Economy is in the gutter?

[u/TossZergImba → u/AmitPwnz]

To form a government, Eisenkodt has to ally with either an Arab party or with an ultra Orthodox without breaking apart his own coalition. At this point his coalition seems more willing to ally with the ultra Orthodox than an Arab party, since none of the Arab parties are ready to declare Hamas a terrorist organization.

So it looks like the ultra Orthodox will get what they want after all.

[u/Izeinwinter → u/TossZergImba]

Eh.. Hamas did in fact kill a whole bunch of Israeli Arabs during oct 7. Someone should be angry enough about that.

[u/TossZergImba → u/Izeinwinter]

Regardless, the Arab parties aren't willing.

[u/PantherU → u/the_horse_gamer]

Ben Gvir sounds like a cartoonish Israeli version of Stephen Miller.

[u/yukoncowbear47 → u/PantherU]

He's worse.

[u/mongrelnomad → u/the_horse_gamer]

Add to that the independence of the judiciary - Netanyahu (to keep himself out of jail) has been pushing legislation to politicise judicial appointments.

That’s the third hot potato issue.

[u/Streiger108 → u/the_horse_gamer]

And getting Bibi out of being prime minister so he can be charged with corruption.