Symbolic imageHerzog picks Eisenkot to form Israeli government after inconclusive election
President Isaac Herzog will formally task opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming a government on Sunday afternoon. Neither camp won a majority in the 27 October election.
Herzog announced on Saturday, 7 November, that Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar party, will receive the mandate at the President's Residence in Jerusalem. In consultations, factions holding 67 of 120 seats recommended Eisenkot and 46 backed Netanyahu, while United Torah Judaism (seven seats) made no recommendation. Eisenkot has 28 days to assemble 61 seats, extendable by up to 14. If he fails, Herzog must decide within three days whether to assign another lawmaker.
The arithmetic of a majority
Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats and Eisenkot's opposition alliance 48, while the two Arab parties hold 19. Handelsblatt calls a coalition with them unlikely because of security differences and considers a minority government backed from outside conceivable. FAZ reports that a deal with the ultra-Orthodox parties would reach 61, with conscription of religious students the main dispute.
Netanyahu calls for unity
On Saturday Netanyahu urged a national unity government and warned that a government reliant on Arab parties would destroy Israel from within. Eisenkot called the speech a "cheap PR stunt". Yashar said Likud is welcome if it publicly dissolves its alliance with the extremists.