Will Eisenkot be able to form Israel’s next government amid a divided opposition?

President Isaac Herzog tasked Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party and a former military chief, with forming a government on Saturday after Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition lost its parliamentary majority in October’s election. Eisenkot has 28 days, with the option of seeking a 14-day extension, but opposition parties are sharply divided over national security, religion and the occupation of Palestinian territory. A potential alliance of Yashar, the centre-left Democrats, Naftali Bennett’s centrist Together party and Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu has 48 seats, short of the 61 needed in the 120-seat Knesset. Arab-led parties could prove decisive, even though Eisenkot and his prospective partners say they will not rely on their support.