Eisenkot leads with 67 recommendations for PM, Herzog says mandate not guaranteed

Israeli President Issac Herzog said on Thursday that factions representing 67 Knesset members recommended Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot to form the next government. While factions representing 46 backed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Herzog stressed that Gadi Eisenkot’s lead in recommendations from political parties does not automatically mean he will be given the mandate to form the next government. He will formally assign Eisenkot the task on Sunday.

Herzog said that the result of the consultation appears clear. “But the authority granted to me by law is to determine who has the ability to form a government, and that is not entirely clear in light of the mutual vetoes between the blocs and within the blocs themselves.” He said he will hold further talks with party leaders to determine who is able to form a government. The result is the largest number of recommendations given to any candidate since 2015, according to Yashar.

Herzog claimed that he will try to clarify the situation “directly and quickly” in personal conversations with some party leaders.“In these conversations, I intend to leave no stone unturned in an effort to encourage the parties to reach out to one another and build a stable and good government for the people of Israel,” he says.

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Path to government

Of the Knesset's 120 seats, Netanyahu's bloc holds 53; 46 recommended him, 7 belong to United Torah Judaism (UTJ), which backed no one. The Zionist opposition bloc holds 48, and the Arab parties hold a record 19, giving Eisenkot his 67 recommendations. That is not a governing majority: his 48 core seats are 13 short of 61.

Adding UTJ and the Arab parties would reach 74, but only if a bloc split on both partners could be held together. The pivot is Avigdor Liberman, whose 7 seats are inside that 48. After weeks of attacking Eisenkot as "Gantz 2" and accusing him of plotting with Netanyahu, Liberman reversed on Monday and recommended him, while keeping his bar on any government dependent on Arab parties. But he has opened the door to the ultra-Orthodox parties and “painful compromises” on enlistment. Yair Golan of the Democrats is the only leader who has not rejected a government with Arab parties, but was previously unwilling to sit with UTJ. But among all of them in the bloc, Golan is seemingly the more flexible one. So if Eisenkot takes support from Arab Parties, it will lose Liberman. If he stays out, Eisenkot's core falls to 41 against Netanyahu's 46.

A minority government could still win investiture with more yes than no votes, as in 2021. Eisenkot's 48 would beat Netanyahu's 46 only if both UTJ and the Arab parties abstain and Liberman stays. If Liberman walks out, Eisenkot will require some Arab parties to vote yes.