The President of Israel has asked Eisenkot to try to form the next government of Israel, and most news commentators think the president is hoping Eisenkot will be able to form a new government, when the opposite is true.
There are two people trying to be the next Prime Minister, Eisenkot and Netanyahu, and the President, knowing neither has enough votes to form a government, and neither can get enough votes to form a government, gives the first try to the one he does not want, knowing he will fail, and so, when he gives the other a chance, there is pressure on the people who wanted the one who failed to give their votes to the one who must be their second choice.
The newly elected Parliament have 53 Zionists who want Netanyahu, 48 Zionists who want Eisenkot, and 19 Arabs who might be willing to join the Netanyahu or Eisenkot group, but neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot will allow any Arabs to be part of the government. A government must have at least 61 members of the Parliament to form, so Netanyahu needs 8 of Eisenkot's Zionists to join his party, while Eisenkot needs 13 members of Netanyahu's Zionists.
So, after Eisenkot fails to form a government, and fail he certainly must, the President will give Netanyahu a chance to form a government, and Eisenkot's supporters, knowing they cannot form a government, will be strongly pressured to switch and support Netanyahu. Of course, this can take about 120 days, or Eisenkot could quit tomorrow and tell all his followers that it is much better to support Netanyhu than to let any Arabs be in the government.
