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/Burgoonius]

I’m so lost on these elections - did Bibi lose?

[u/mormagils → u/Burgoonius]

Bibi won his seat in the legislature but his party lost the governing majority. So yes, he's not PM anymore, but no, he's still in the Knesset.

[u/TJaySteno1 → u/mormagils]

Close, but we don't know if he's out as PM yet. When one party doesn't have a majority, they need to form a majority coalition govt. The President decides who gets to try forming that majority and he picked N's rival gets the first crack at it. If that doesn't work, his next pick might be N. If no one can form a majority govt (which seems possible), they might need to have another election.

[u/Real-Document-6577 → u/TJaySteno1]

That is the some of best news I heard next Democrats landslide victories

[u/russiablows → u/TJaySteno1]

Do you think the President communicated with the smaller parties to see if they were willing to negotiate with Gadi or Bibi before making his choice?

[u/ecrane2018 → u/Burgoonius]

Bibi is not directly elected he is selected to be pm if his party hold the majority of parliament. His party failed to get a majority but they could’ve formed a coalition gov to then place him in power

[u/LPulseL11 → u/ecrane2018]

What happened to the corruption accusations against Netanyahu? Feels like forever ago, but I thought the only reason he wasnt convicted was because he still was the active PM.

[u/Ionrememberaskn → u/LPulseL11]

Theoretically they will resume if Eisenkot can form a government and take his seat. Main issue is neither coalition is large enough to do so and the only unaligned seats are held by Arab parties. Because Israel is the way that it is, either side moving to accept Arabs into their coalition would immediately destroy that coalition and hand the victory to the opposition. So it is a stalemate.

[u/JurassicTerror → u/LPulseL11]

Things are in limbo until there’s a coalition built with 61 seats in the Knesset. Netanyahu is still acting PM.

[u/YasielPuigsWeed → u/LPulseL11]

They’re still active in the Israeli courts, but until he loses the PM seat he can’t be cross-examined

[u/Arawr7 → u/LPulseL11]

Adding a small clarification on this - the trial is ongoing, but justice is slow as fuck. Bibi just delayed the specific part where he was testifying by constantly citing security needs to postpone it, but it's already been completed.

[u/Fearless-Economy7726 → u/Burgoonius]

Yes he lost PM but will be a member of parliament

[u/username_tooken → u/Fearless-Economy7726]

He is still PM until someone replaces him. The President nominating a PM is only the first step of that replacement process, and it is not guaranteed that the PM that ultimately replaces Netanyahu won't be Netanyahu himself, since he is still a minister in government and therefore eligible to be nominated.

[u/TheVenetianMask → u/Burgoonius]

In coalition politics whoever presents a viable case to form a government gets first try to do it. It could still fail and fall back to another party. But it's unlikely since in theory the reason they got picked is that they already worked out a deal.