Herzog can secure his presidential legacy by bringing Netanyahu and Eisenkot together - opinion

An opinion piece argues that President Isaac Herzog must push Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot into a broad unity government following the October 2026 election stalemate. The author criticizes Herzog for failing to advance a 2023 judicial reform compromise and urges him to reject narrow coalitions relying on Arab or ultra-Orthodox parties.

An opinion piece by David M. Weinberg argues that Israeli President Isaac Herzog must leverage his position to forge a broad unity government between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot, following the October 2026 election that ended in a stalemate. The author contends that Herzog, a former Labor Party leader, is under pressure from the hard Left to approve a narrow government that excludes Netanyahu, relying on Arab or ultra-Orthodox parties. Weinberg asserts that such a government would harm national security and calls on Herzog to actively intervene in coalition negotiations, including by demanding a commitment to unity from any mandate recipient and rejecting coalitions dependent on what he terms 'fractional' parties. The piece criticizes Herzog for failing to advance a judicial reform compromise in 2023, which the author claims could have prevented the October 7 attack. It concludes that Herzog has 20 months left in his term and must seize this opportunity to shape his legacy.