Gadi Eisenkot, the former IDF chief of staff who now leads the Yashar party, used the swearing-in of the 26th Knesset to make a sweeping promise: "I am committing to forming a national emergency government as soon as possible." The pledge comes after October's election failed to give either side a clear majority, and President Isaac Herzog tasked Eisenkot with building a coalition after he won recommendations from 67 of the Knesset's 120 members. He has 28 days to do it, with a possible 14-day extension, and if he fails, Herzog can hand the job to another lawmaker. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud remains the largest single party with 27 seats, and Netanyahu stays in office as a caretaker while the talks continue.

Behind the scenes, Eisenkot is reportedly coordinating with Naftali Bennett's B'Yachad, Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid, Yair Golan's Democrats and Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beytenu on key Knesset roles and shared principles. Those principles reportedly include mandatory service for all and Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. Eisenkot has described the country as facing a real national emergency and has said "creative and unconventional" political steps may be needed, a line that already has critics asking what that could mean in practice. The numbers are tight and the parties are deeply divided, so there's no guarantee the deal gets done, and the next few weeks will show whether Israel gets a new government or another stretch of political uncertainty.