President Herzog receives Knesset election results — Jerusalem Post
In Israel, President Isaac Herzog on November 4 received the official results of the elections to the 26th Knesset from the chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Justice Noam Sohlberg. As The Jerusalem Post reports, the committee approved the results on the morning of the same day, finding no evidence of a breach in the integrity of the electoral process.
Consultations on the mandate
After receiving the results, Herzog will hold consultations with representatives of parliamentary factions, who are to name a candidate for prime minister. By law, the president must hear the positions of the Knesset factions before determining the politician he will task with forming a government.
The mandate is expected to go to the candidate supported by the largest number of party representatives. On Wednesday, the president was to invite the factions in ascending order of their number of Knesset seats, starting with the Religious Zionism–Zehut bloc, the Shas party, and Yisrael Beiteinu. Consultations with other parties will continue until Thursday evening.
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Distribution of seats and party positions
Following the vote, Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats in the new Knesset, while the opposition bloc won 48. The Arab parties Ra'am and the Joint List together received a record 19 mandates.
The Religious Zionism party, led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and Shas, led by Aryeh Deri, stated that they would recommend Netanyahu. Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman announced his support for Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot. Naftali Bennett of the B'Yachad party and Yair Golan of the Democrats party also stated that they would recommend Eisenkot, seeking to avoid new elections.
If Eisenkot is recommended by representatives of the opposition bloc, which has 48 seats, as well as the Arab parties with 19 mandates, he could receive 67 recommendations. Under such circumstances, Herzog could potentially give him the mandate to form a government instead of Netanyahu.
