Three Israeli parties back Eisenkot as candidate to form government — Jerusalem Post

In Israel, the Democrats party said it would recommend Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot to President Isaac Herzog as the candidate to form the next government. Ahead of the president’s consultations, which are due to begin on Wednesday, Eisenkot had already received the same support from Naftali Bennett of the B’Yachad party and Avigdor Lieberman of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, The Jerusalem Post reports.

Consultations with the president

Earlier, Eisenkot insisted that the candidate for prime minister should be the leader of the largest party in the opposition bloc. At the same time, before the election, Bennett, Lieberman and Democrats leader Yair Golan had not announced an agreement on such a mechanism.

Consultations between party representatives and the president will take place on Wednesday. Eisenkot may become the first candidate Herzog tasks with forming a coalition. He will have 28 days to do so, with the possibility of extending the mandate by another 14 days.

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Support from Arab parties

Yair Golan called on the opposition bloc seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a coalition with Arab parties. Other opposition leaders had previously opposed Arab parties joining the government, considering them unacceptable coalition partners after the mass killings of October 7, 2023.

According to the election results, Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats in the next Knesset, while the opposition bloc won 48. Without the support of Arab parties, the opposition does not have the required majority of 61 seats.