67 MKs Back Eisenkot, but Coalition Isn't Assured

On November 5, 2026, the Joint List said it would recommend Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot to President Isaac Herzog as Israel’s next prime minister, adding 67 members of the next Knesset to his tally. The number gives Eisenkot the backing of a majority of the body. It doesn’t mean those parties will join his coalition.

A Majority on Paper

The Joint List said all three of its factions made the decision unanimously. It described the move as a response to “the public demand to prevent Netanyahu and his government from returning to power.” The recommendation is an electoral calculation aimed at who might lead the government; the party’s own statement also makes clear that support for Eisenkot does not settle who will govern alongside him.

Eisenkot already had more Knesset members behind him than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the article. The Joint List said its recommendation would widen the gap between them. It argued that doing so could strengthen the chances of replacing the government and reduce the prospect of a unity government that would keep Netanyahu in power.

That’s the machinery in plain view: a recommendation to the president, a count of legislators, and negotiations over a government that may or may not include the parties whose backing produces the majority figure. The Joint List’s 67 recommendations carry political weight, but they aren’t a pledge to enter a coalition. The distinction matters. A parliamentary majority in recommendations and a governing coalition are not the same thing.

The Opposition’s Own Criticism

The Joint List said it backed Eisenkot despite what it called the opposition bloc’s failure so far to show sufficient willingness to “confront Netanyahu’s path, as well as to fight incitement against Arab citizens and attempts to undermine the legitimacy of their political decision.” The criticism came from the party making the recommendation, not from an outside observer. Its support is therefore neither an endorsement without conditions nor evidence that the opposition bloc has met the demands it named.

The statement puts Arab citizens’ political legitimacy alongside the contest over who forms the government. The Joint List said it wanted to prevent Netanyahu and his government from returning, while also faulting the opposition for its response to incitement and efforts to undermine Arab citizens’ political decisions. Those claims describe the political stakes as the party framed them; the article provides no further detail about particular incidents or actions.

The Recommendation, Not the Government

A Joint List delegation was due to present the recommendation to Herzog that afternoon. That is the next stated step. The base account does not say that Herzog had received it, that a government had been formed, or that the parties backing Eisenkot would join his coalition.

The arithmetic is consequential, but it has limits. The Joint List says its unanimous decision brings Eisenkot to 67 MKs in the next Knesset, a majority, and says the move could improve the prospect of replacing the government. At the same time, the parties backing him won’t necessarily join the coalition. The recommendation puts a number on opposition to Netanyahu’s return; it does not resolve the question of who will exercise government power next.