The Associated Press reports that Israeli President Isaac Herzog gave opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief who challenged Benjamin Netanyahu in the October 2026 elections, the first chance to form a governing coalition after Netanyahu's bloc lost its majority. Eisenkot has up to six weeks to build a coalition, with the Arab-led parties as potential kingmakers, while Netanyahu claimed the Arab parties 'stole' the elections and called for a national unity government instead.