With no majority, what options remain for Israel's Netanyahu, Eisenkot?

Following the recent elections, where neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor Gadi Eisenkot secured a majority, both leaders claim they have the mandate to govern. Neither has disclosed how they came to this conclusion. With the result being inconclusive, the two leaders will need to broaden their support bases to form a coalition government.

However, there has been little information leaked about any behind-the-scenes negotiations. If neither can form a coalition, Israel will need to go back to the polls. Here are the most plausible scenarios for each side forming a government.

A Netanyahu-led government is the most likely option, as Prime Minister Netanyahu and his far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies have 53 seats in parliament, including 27 for his own Likud party. However, this still falls short of the 61 seats needed for a majority. Netanyahu will need to reach out to opposition parties for a potential coalition, which would be a significant change from his campaign promises to unseat him.

The least receptive to Netanyahu's overture would be the left-wing Democrats, led by Yair Golan, who won eight seats. Avigdor Lieberman, Netanyahu's former ally turned critic, would also likely reject the idea, stating that the only conceivable coalition would be one without Netanyahu. Naftali Bennett's center-right Together party, which won 12 seats, is less clear on its stance, initially suggesting openness to an alliance but later retracting.

The possibility of an alliance with Eisenkot's Yesh Atid party seems remote, as he built his campaign around removing Netanyahu.

An Eisenkot-led government would require him to either establish a minority government supported by other parties or broaden his coalition by bringing in Arab lawmakers or defectors from the other camp. The Arab-majority groupings, Raam and the Joint List, have 8 and 11 seats respectively, which would give Eisenkot the seats he needs to form a government.

However, relying on them would mean breaking a campaign promise and creating a fragile minority government that observers believe would not last. Eisenkot, a former army chief, is not a pacifist and the possibility of future military operations, including in Gaza, could prompt his new allies to pull their support. He could also try to woo away defectors from Netanyahu's camp, though defections from the Likud are unlikely and its far-right allies are politically unpalatable.

The remaining ultra-Orthodox parties, who hold 13 seats, could be more amenable, though they oppose military service exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox community.