Herzog tasks Gadi Eisenkot with forming the government

Israeli President Isaac Herzog announced on the evening of 7 November that, having concluded consultations with the parties, he had tasked Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming the new government.

According to a statement by the Israeli President's office, the letter of mandate will be handed to Eisenkot tomorrow afternoon. He will be given 28 days to form the government, a period that can be extended by up to 14 days.

Eisenkot received recommendations from 67 of the Knesset's 120 members. His backers include an alliance of Arab political parties and the Arab-led Ra'am party. A day earlier, the Joint List said it would formally recommend Eisenkot to President Herzog during the consultations on forming the government.

The Yashar party said in a statement that Netanyahu had formed national unity and emergency governments but had always worked to undermine them and had not honoured his agreement with his partners.

Eisenkot said: "If Likud and its allies want a unity government, they must break their alliance with the extremists and join a government headed by me."

Israel held parliamentary elections on 27 October. Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party came first with 27 seats, and Eisenkot's Yashar party came second with 21 seats. Opposition parties together won 67 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, while Netanyahu's outgoing coalition won 53. Forming a government requires the support of 61 members.

After the elections, opposition leaders Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu), Yair Golan (The Democrats) and Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) said in a joint statement that all their parties would recommend Eisenkot to Herzog.

Under Israeli law, the candidate first tasked by the president must form a government within 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension. If this fails, the president may give the mandate to another candidate; if that also fails, 61 Knesset members may put forward another candidate, otherwise new elections are called.