Explainer: Eisenkot’s four conditions for building Israel’s government

Gadi Eisenkot has six weeks to form Israel’s next government, and his four conditions could decide whether ultra-Orthodox and Arab parties can join.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has formally tasked Gadi Eisenkot with forming Israel’s next government, giving him up to six weeks to build a 61-seat coalition in the 120-member Knesset, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports.

If he fails, the president can give another lawmaker a chance, most likely Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has urged him to join an emergency national unity government.

Eisenkot said his “national emergency government” would comprise the four Zionist parties of the change bloc: his Yashar party, B’Yachad, led by former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beitenu and the Democrats under Yair Golan.

He said he would send invitations to every Knesset faction. “The rule is simple,” he said. “If you are prepared to sign on to the four principles I have set out, you are potential partners in a national emergency government under my leadership.”