JERUSALEM, NOV 5 (PTI): Former Israel Defence Forces chief Gadi Eisenkot is poised to secure majority support among newly elected Knesset members to form the next government after Arab parties recommended him during consultations with President Isaac Herzog on Thursday.
Based on the October 27 election results, Eisenkot is expected to receive 67 recommendations against 46 for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose prospects suffered a setback after longtime ally United Torah Judaism (UTJ) declined to recommend any candidate.
Netanyahu’s bloc secured 53 seats against 48 won by Eisenkot’s bloc in the 120-member Knesset, while Arab parties emerged as kingmakers with a record 19 seats.
Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas, whose party has eight seats, recommended Eisenkot and reiterated support for a two-state solution and US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan. He also called for Hamas and all armed organisations to be disarmed.
The Joint List, an 11-member Arab political grouping, also recommended Eisenkot, describing its decision as a choice between “bad and even worse” in its effort to replace Netanyahu’s government.
Joint List chair Yousef Jabareen said the decision reflected Arab voters’ demand for change amid racism, discrimination, crime and exclusion under the current coalition. Veteran lawmaker Ahmad Tibi said the grouping would support a minority government from outside as a “blocking bloc”, but would not help form a government only for it to collapse soon afterwards.
The recommendations come amid a political deadlock, with neither bloc securing the 61 seats needed for a majority.
Herzog began consultations on Wednesday after the Central Election Committee formally handed over the results. Allegations of vote theft and electoral fraud marked the process, though election officials said any proven irregularities would not be sufficient to invalidate the results. The president usually tasks the member considered most likely to form a government, taking party recommendations into account.
