Israel's New Parliament Sworn In as Eisenkot Gets First Shot at Ousting Netanyahu

Israel's newly elected parliament was sworn in Tuesday, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hold on power is in real doubt.

Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu's main rival and a former military chief, has the first chance to build a new government ^[1]. He has up to six weeks to do it, which would end the tenure of Israel's longest-serving prime minister ^[2].

Eisenkot pledged to launch an official inquiry into Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and to reverse many of Netanyahu's policies ^[3]. Al Jazeera reported both men are pushing to assemble a coalition after an election deadlock ^[4].

World Watch's take: whoever governs Israel next will face the same enemies. Washington will be watching whether a new government keeps the hard line on Iran and Hamas.