2026 has been a year of people fighting to get their democracies back from autocrats, from Hungary, Serbia and Brazil to the United States. And now, perhaps, to Israel.
President Isaac Herzog tasked Israel’s opposition leader former military chief and centrist Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming a new government, so Eisenkot must form a coalition that can replace Bibi Netanyahu.
After an election in which Eisenkot received recommendations from 67 members of the 120-seat Knesset, compared to 46 recommendations for Netanyahu, it appears the end of Netanyahu era is near.
Eisenkot has just 28 days to build a governing coalition, with a possible 14-day extension permitted by Herzog.
And here’s where it gets even more interesting. On Sunday, it was reported by Haaretz that the opposition plans to swiftly replace Likud's Knesset speaker, Amir Ohana, to weaken Netanyahu's grip and push for a state commission of inquiry into the October 7, 2023 security failures.
Doing this will prevent Netanyahu and the current Knesset speaker from having time to pressure lawmakers and derail the coalition.
However, if Eisenkot fails to form a coalition within the allotted time, the mandate could pass to Netanyahu, or Israel could face fresh elections.
The challenges are immense. “(T)he 66-year-old faces a difficult challenge as many of the opposition parties hold sharply conflicting positions on national security, religion and the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory,” Al Jazeera reported Sunday.
It gets even trickier because: “As a result, Arab-led parties hold a potentially decisive role in determining who governs Israel, even as Eisenkot and his prospective partners refuse to rely on their support.”
The bottom line is the end of Netanyahu might not happen this time, but it is happening. His support has eroded.
The complexities of their governing rules aside, the overarching point is that Netanyahu fell eight seats short of a majority. The people are not happy with his leadership. He shares many approaches to leadership with Donald Trump. Neither man is popular.
Both men are weakened. And a weakened Netanyahu could be good news for the world. Democracy is in peril around the globe, but people are showing up in incredible force to fight back. Every single country that succeeds in their fight is another protection from the kind of world autocrats are trying to impose on us.
The end of the toxic, extremist era of Netanyahu is in sight.
Around the world, people showed up. They used their votes. And it mattered.
Do you think Netanyahu's political end is coming? Discuss it in the comments below.
The end of Netanyahu is coming, but there is a lot riding on the gentleman who is tasked with forming a coalition to govern Israel.
Until Eisenkot forms a coalition, I won’t start to think of Netanyahu as gone. Netanyahu manages to find ways to keep power.