Arab parties back Eisenkot, but path to Israeli coalition remains fraught

Show caption: Palestinian candidate Mansour Abbas, leader of the Ra'am par…

Opposition leader has majority of recommendations to try to form next government

Arab parties threw their backing behind former army general Gadi Eisenkot to be Israel's next prime minister on Thursday, but a row over Hamas is threatening to derail the process.

Mansour Abbas, the leader of the majority-Arab political party Ra’am, called for Hamas to be disarmed and removed from power but stopped short of calling the group a terrorist organisation during talks with the Israeli President, Isaac Herzog.

Mr Herzog is holding talks with all parties before deciding who should be given the first chance to form an Israeli government after last week's inconclusive elections.

Despite condemning terrorism, Mr Abbas’s decision not to specifically call Hamas a terrorist organisation puts him at odds with Mr Eisenkot, the opposition bloc leader, who has made it a condition that parties in his prospective coalition do so.

Mr Abbas said that he wanted “all armed groups” to give up their weapons and asked Mr Herzog to “leave me some room to protect myself and my family, too” when the President pressed him on the question of whether Hamas was a terrorist organisation.

The potential deadlock puts the opposition’s ability to form a majority in jeopardy. After record Arab turnout in the elections, and a relatively poor showing from the Jewish opposition, working with Arab parties is one of the only routes for Mr Eisenkot to achieve a majority. Mr Abbas previously sat in an Israeli coalition in 2021.

Ra’am is considered the most flexible Arab-majority party in Israeli politics, and yet many Israeli politicians, including some in Mr Eisenkot’s opposition bloc, have said they will not sit with Arab parties. Despite this reluctance, Mr Abbas, as well as the Joint List, the more radical Arab party in the Knesset, has said he is willing to work in a coalition.

On Thursday, the Joint List said it would nominate Mr Eisenkot to form the government, shortly after Ra’am did the same. Mr Eisenkot now has a majority of recommendations from Knesset parties, making it likely that Mr Herzog will give him the first opportunity to form a government.

In a setback for Mr Netanyahu, meanwhile, United Torah Judaism, one of two major parties representing ultra-Orthodox Jewish voters and a longstanding Netanyahu coalition ally, declined to recommend any candidate to form a government.

Mr Herzog was to meet separately with Mr Eisenkot and Mr Netanyahu at his residence in Jerusalem on Thursday night, wrapping up party meetings he started on Wednesday after the announcement of official election results.

If chosen, Mr Eisenkot would have 28 days to try to form a government, with the possibility of a 14-day extension. If negotiations are inconclusive, the chance will fall to another politician whom Mr Herzog deems likely to be able to form a government.

Updated:

November 05, 2026, 3:35 PM