Gadi Eisenkot has the main chances of becoming the next Prime Minister of Israel, having secured a majority of 67 recommendations from Knesset members following the October 27, 2026, general election. This puts the leader of the center-right Yashar party in a prime position to receive the official mandate from President Isaac Herzog to form a government, ahead of incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Eisenkot (originally Azancot or Azenkot) family is a well-known North African Jewish family with roots in Morocco. The family name is historically linked to Morocco's Jewish community, where members of the Azencot family held prominent leadership positions in cities like Marrakesh.

The most notable public figure from the family is Gadi Eisenkot, the former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff and politician. His parents, Meir and Esther Eisenkot, immigrated to Israel from Morocco (his father from Marrakesh and his mother from Casablanca), and the family name was later modified from Azencot/Azenkot.

Moroccan Jews blend Sephardic heritage, as descendants of Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal, with indigenous North African (Toshavim) roots, and Gadi Eisenkot is widely recognized for his North African Sephardi background.

The likelihood of Eisenkot governing Israel increases every day. Yet, securing recommendations does not automatically guarantee he will become Prime Minister. Eisenkot must navigate a highly fragmented political landscape to successfully build a stable governing coalition. Because he holds the majority of recommendations (67 out of 120 Knesset seats compared to Netanyahu's 53), President Herzog is expected to hand him the mandate to form a government first. Once selected, Eisenkot will have up to 42 days to construct a coalition.

While Eisenkot has the numbers on paper to block Netanyahu, his actual path to swearing in a government faces severe ideological friction. On November 4, 2026, Ra'am (8 seats) recommended him, followed by a unanimous endorsement on November 5, 2026, from the Joint List (11 seats). However, these endorsements were driven primarily by a desire to prevent Netanyahu's return to power rather than a policy alignment. Eisenkot previously vowed not to include Arab parties in his government, creating a critical mathematical hurdle.

Key Jewish opposition allies, such as Avigdor Liberman of Yisrael Beytenu, share hawkish defense views and have explicitly ruled out sitting in a minority government dependent on Arab-led legislative support.

Eisenkot's proposed "national emergency government" is built on strict principles, including the universal obligation to perform national service and the absolute disarmament of Hamas. While Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas expressed support for Hamas disarmament, reconciling these principles across a broad coalition remains exceptionally difficult.

If Eisenkot is unable to form a coalition within his allotted time, and Netanyahu similarly fails to bridge gaps with his own Orthodox allies over military exemption laws, the mandate will fail. In this scenario, Israel would likely head to another general election early next year, leaving Netanyahu as the caretaker prime minister in the interim.