Eisenkot Secures Majority of Endorsements as Israeli President Weighs Next Government
By The Media Line Staff
Gadi Eisenkot emerged from Israel’s post-election presidential consultations Thursday with the backing of 67 lawmakers, a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, after two Arab-led parties endorsed his bid to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu secured recommendations from 46 lawmakers, while the seven members of United Torah Judaism (UTJ) declined to support either candidate, breaking with their party’s longstanding practice of backing the Likud leader.
President Isaac Herzog confirmed the figures Thursday evening after concluding two days of consultations with all factions elected to the Knesset in the October 27 election. He announced that he intends to assign the mandate to form Israel’s next government on Sunday, November 8.
“The results of the consultations may appear clear, but the authority vested in me by law is to determine who has the ability to form a government, and that is not entirely clear, given the mutual vetoes between the blocs and within the blocs themselves,” Herzog said.
The president said he would hold additional personal talks with party leaders before making his decision, pledging to “leave no stone unturned” in seeking a stable government.
The Joint List’s decision Thursday to recommend Eisenkot added 11 lawmakers to his tally, joining the eight members of Ra’am and 48 lawmakers from four Jewish-led parties: Eisenkot’s Yashar, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid’s B’Yachad, the Democrats, and Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beitenu.
The Joint List said its decision reflected public demands to prevent Netanyahu’s return to power. Its endorsement, however, does not constitute an agreement to join an Eisenkot-led coalition.
Although Eisenkot commands 67 presidential recommendations, his four Jewish-led supporting parties hold just 48 seats, and potential coalition partners have opposed governing with the Arab parties.
Netanyahu faces a different obstacle. UTJ, whose seven lawmakers have traditionally belonged to his political camp, withheld its recommendation following a dispute over legislation exempting ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students from military service. Party representatives indicated that future government support would depend on resolving the issue.
The decision marked the first time in two decades that UTJ had declined to recommend Netanyahu for prime minister. In 2006, the ultra-Orthodox alliance backed Kadima leader Ehud Olmert, although it subsequently remained outside his coalition.
Herzog, who described his discussions with the factions as “open, candid, and also probing,” said he had challenged party representatives to reconsider entrenched positions.
“I asked difficult questions in an effort to help the parties and the public to break free from set ways of thinking and open their minds to other paths,” he said.
Under Israeli law, the candidate receiving the mandate will have 28 days to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension.
Herzog’s announcement sets a timetable for a decision, but the central obstacle remains unresolved: Eisenkot has the support of a majority of lawmakers in the presidential consultations, without a clear path to assembling a coalition that can command the confidence of the Knesset.
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