Israeli president asks Gadi Eisenkot to try forming a government

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has chosen Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief, to have the first opportunity to form a new government. Herzog's office released the decision in a statement on Saturday evening, citing its "intention to task him with forming a government".

Eisenkot was informed of the decision. He is to be invited to the president's residence, where a formal ceremony will take place on Sunday, according to DW.

Eisenkot leads the centrist Yashar party and heads an anti-Netanyahu alliance. He will have 28 days to secure the 61 votes needed to form a government. Euronews reported that the president can extend this by a maximum of 14 days before giving the mandate to someone else, and DW said Herzog can grant that extension if Eisenkot falls short.

The October election left neither side with a majority in the 120-seat parliament. The Eisenkot-led bloc of Zionist parties won 48 seats, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's camp won 53. Israel's Arab parties won 19 seats.

DW reported that Netanyahu's religious-nationalist coalition lost its majority despite being the largest bloc. Both camps had initially promised before the vote not to rely on Arab parties. Netanyahu ruled out working with them to gain a majority.

During the week, both Arab-majority lists announced they would recommend Eisenkot as the next prime minister. NPR reported that Israel's main parties have recommended that he form the government.

DW said tricky coalition talks are expected. If no candidate succeeds, Israel will likely head to fresh elections. DW also noted that Yitzhak Rabin's government relied on Arab parties' votes from the opposition until his assassination in 1995, and that the Arab party Ra'am was part of the coalition led by Naftali Bennet and Yair Lapid between 2021 and 2022.