Israel's President Herzog to Select Government Forming Candidate on Sunday

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog announced on Thursday that he will identify a candidate to form the country’s next government by Sunday. This decision follows marathon consultations with parties elected to the 120-seat Knesset, where a majority of lawmakers backed opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot over incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

During televised remarks concluding the talks, Herzog noted that while the consultation results appeared clear, significant obstacles remain. He highlighted mutual vetoes between different political blocs and within the blocs themselves, which complicate the process of assembling a governing coalition. Consequently, he plans to hold personal discussions with select party leaders over the Israeli weekend, which spans Friday and Saturday, before making his final selection.

The October 27 election resulted in a fragmented parliament, leaving neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot with an immediate path to a majority. Netanyahu’s Likud party secured the largest number of individual seats with 27, but his broader religious-nationalist coalition managed to gather only 53 seats in total. In contrast, Eisenkot’s alliance of four Jewish-led parties, which spans the political spectrum from center-left to the right, won 48 seats despite polling predictions of a tighter race.

An unprecedented 19 seats were won by two parties representing Israel’s Palestinian minority. Both Arab-led parties recommended Eisenkot, even though he and Netanyahu have both ruled out forming a government with them. This support gave Eisenkot the endorsement of 67 lawmakers, compared to 46 for Netanyahu. Ahmad Tibi, a senior member of the Joint List, stated to The Associated Press that the group aims to remove the current government, which it describes as criminal.

Eisenkot’s party, Yashar, emphasized that the 67 recommendations received are the highest number for any candidate since 2015. The party urged Herzog to grant him the mandate as quickly as possible to form a national emergency government. Yariv Oppenheimer, a member of the Democrats party within Eisenkot’s alliance, told Al Jazeera that there is no reason Herzog would not choose Eisenkot. He added that United Torah Judaism had signaled its support was available for the right price, potentially providing the numbers Eisenkot needs.

Netanyahu faced a setback on Thursday when United Torah Judaism, a longtime ultra-Orthodox ally, declined to recommend any candidate. The Times of Israel reported that the party broke with Netanyahu over his coalition’s failure to pass legislation exempting ultra-Orthodox men from military service. Oppenheimer noted that it is very clear Netanyahu does not have a chance to establish a government at all.

Once nominated, the chosen candidate will have 28 days to forge a government, with the possibility of a 14-day extension. Netanyahu will remain in power as a caretaker until a new coalition is formed or another election is held if no candidate succeeds. Netanyahu has raised doubts about the election results by citing an investigation into possible vote tampering, accusing Arab-led parties of stealing the vote. Critics argue this is an attempt to undermine the results, a claim Netanyahu denies.

Israel’s Central Election Committee stated on Wednesday that the integrity of the election had not been compromised. Committee head Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg urged elected officials to protect public trust rather than shake it. He described the peaceful transfer of power as a foundation of democracy and called the high voter turnout, including among the Arab minority, a blessing. Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s far-right allies, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have called for the immediate arrest and interrogation of Arab party leaders.