Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot is pitching for the first mandate from President Isaac Herzog to form Israel’s next government, arguing that the final election tally produced a parliamentary majority against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition. Eisenkot ruled out serving in a Netanyahu-led unity or rotation government, though he left open working with Likud without Netanyahu, and said any lawmaker could join his coalition by accepting four principles: Israel as a Jewish, democratic and liberal state, the Declaration of Independence, mandatory national or military service for all, and the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing power.
