The President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, has selected Gadi Eisenkot as the first option to form a new government. This news was announced in a statement released on Saturday evening.
Invitation to the Official Ceremony
The statement mentioned that Eisenkot has been informed of "Herzog's intention to assign the formation of the government" and will soon be invited to the President's residence for the official inauguration ceremony.
Close Electoral Competition
This decision comes after Eisenkot's close competition with Benjamin Netanyahu in the October elections in Israel. Eisenkot's group, formed in opposition to Netanyahu, secured 48 seats out of 120 in the Israeli parliament in the recent elections, while Netanyahu's coalition won 53 seats, neither of which reached the majority of 61 seats required.
Eisenkot, who previously served as the commander of the Israeli army, is the leader of the centrist Yashar party and heads an anti-Netanyahu coalition. While Netanyahu has rejected cooperation with Arab parties to gain a majority, both Arab lists announced last week that they would endorse Eisenkot as the next prime minister.
Challenges Ahead for Eisenkot
This move is the first step towards coalition negotiations, which will undoubtedly be complex. If Eisenkot succeeds in forming a government, he will replace Netanyahu as prime minister, who holds the record for the longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history and whose religious-nationalist coalition lost its majority in the recent elections, although it is still recognized as the largest bloc.
Although Eisenkot came in second, he managed to secure endorsements from leaders of Arab parties opposed to Netanyahu. He faces significant challenges in forming a government, which will involve complex combinations of Arab and ultra-Orthodox parties. Eisenkot has 28 days to gather the necessary 61 votes to form a government.
Herzog can extend this deadline by 14 days if Eisenkot is unsuccessful in gathering votes, otherwise, the mission will be assigned to another individual. If no candidate succeeds in forming a government, Israel will head to new elections.
