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VIDEO EXPLAINER | 8 NOVEMBER 2026
On 7 November 2026 Israel’s President Isaac Herzog announced that he will give Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party and a former chief of the Israeli Army, the first chance to form the next government. The formal handover is on 8 November. In the President’s consultations with the parties, 67 of the 120 MPs recommended Eisenkot, 46 recommended Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and 7 recommended no one.
How a government forms in Israel: the Parliament, the Knesset, has 120 seats, and 61 make a majority. Because of proportional representation no single party wins 61 seats alone, so every government is a coalition of several parties. The President is a ceremonial head of state and real power lies with the Prime Minister, but the choice of whom to invite to form the government is the President’s. He meets delegations of all parties, and each party recommends its Prime Minister candidate.
The Indian parallel: the President of India also invites the leader who can prove a majority, but the real test is the floor test in the Lok Sabha. In the same way, Eisenkot must win the confidence of at least 61 MPs in the Knesset.
Key facts
120 Knesset seats; 61 for a majority. Recommendations: 67 for Eisenkot, 46 for Netanyahu, 7 for no one. 28 days to form a government, plus up to 14 more days if the President extends: 42 days in total. A recommendation is not a confidence vote.
Why 67 is not a government. The 67 recommendations come from different blocs, including Arab parties. President Herzog said himself that there are mutual vetoes between the blocs, meaning one group is not ready to share a government with another. So this is an invitation to form a government, not a promise that one will form.
The clock. Eisenkot has 28 days to build a coalition. The head of state can extend the period by up to 14 more days, for a total of 42. If Eisenkot cannot gather the support of 61 MPs, the mandate can be transferred to another MP, and if nobody manages to form a government, the last option is a new election.
Exam point. In a parliamentary system the head of state invites, but the legislature decides: what matters is the confidence of 61 MPs in a house of 120, not the number of recommendations.
What the President actually does. Israel’s President is the ceremonial head of state, like the President of India, and real power is with the Prime Minister. The one decision that is genuinely the President’s is whom to invite first. To take it, President Herzog meets delegations from every party in the Knesset, and each party recommends its own candidate for Prime Minister. This time, of the 120 MPs, 67 recommended Gadi Eisenkot, 46 recommended Benjamin Netanyahu and 7 recommended no one.
Who is Eisenkot. Gadi Eisenkot is the leader of the Yashar party and a former chief of the Israeli Army. Receiving the mandate means he is the first person invited to try to build a coalition. It does not make him Prime Minister.
Constitutional / Legal / Institutional framework
Israel has a parliamentary system. The Knesset has 120 seats and a government needs the confidence of at least 61 MPs. The President invites one MP to form a government, and that MP then has 28 days. The head of state can extend the period by up to 14 more days, so the maximum is 42 days. If the MP cannot gather 61 MPs, the mandate can be transferred to another MP. If nobody can form a government, the last option is a new election. The comparison with India is useful: the President of India invites the leader who can prove a majority, and the real test is the floor test in the Lok Sabha.
CLAT angle
Remember the anchors for GK and for legal reasoning questions: 120 seats, 61 for a majority, 67 recommendations versus 46 and 7 for no one, 28 days plus up to 14 days, and the difference between a recommendation by the parties and a vote of confidence in the House. A common mistake is to treat 67 as a government that is already confirmed. It is not.
Mnemonic / memory hook
Remember: 67 recommend, 61 confirm. Twenty-eight days to build, fourteen more to extend, forty-two at the most. Recommendation is the invitation, confidence is the proof.
Why this matters for the exam. Questions on foreign parliaments usually test the structure and not the news: the size of the House, the majority mark, who invites, who decides, and how long the process can run. This story packs all of them into one example, and it ties them to the Indian system, where the President invites and the Lok Sabha decides.
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