Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Thursday that factions representing 67 Knesset members had recommended Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot to form the next government, while factions representing 46 MKs backed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Herzog announced the tally after completing his consultations with all factions elected to the 26th Knesset, saying that he intends to task a Knesset member with forming a government on Sunday.
Despite Eisenkot receiving recommendations from a majority of the 120-member parliament, Herzog stressed that the numbers alone would not determine his decision.
“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,” the president said.
He said he would seek to resolve the question “directly and quickly” through personal discussions with some party leaders before announcing his decision.
‘Open, candid and probing’
Herzog began the consultations after receiving the official results of the Oct. 27 election from Central Elections Committee Chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg on Wednesday.
“I met with the representatives of all the factions,” Herzog said at the conclusion of the process. “The discussions were open, candid, and also probing.”
The president said he had asked the faction representatives “difficult questions” in an effort to encourage them to consider alternatives to their established positions on possible coalition partners.
“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.
The consultations produced 67 recommendations for Eisenkot and 46 for Netanyahu. United Torah Judaism, which won seven seats in the election, did not recommend either candidate, accounting for the remaining seats in the Knesset.
Mutual vetoes complicate coalition arithmetic
The recommendation tally differs significantly from the division of seats that emerged from the election.
The final results gave Netanyahu’s bloc 53 seats, while the parties principally opposed to him won 48 and the Arab parties secured 19.
The 67 recommendations for Eisenkot therefore include parties outside the 48-seat bloc led by Netanyahu’s principal opponents. However, Herzog indicated that recommendations do not necessarily translate into an ability to assemble a coalition commanding the support of at least 61 MKs.
His reference to “mutual vetoes between the blocs and within the blocs themselves” underscored the difficulty of converting the recommendations into a viable governing majority.
Under Israeli law, the president is required to consult representatives of the Knesset factions before assigning a lawmaker the task of forming a government. The president is not required simply to choose the candidate receiving the largest number of recommendations, but must determine which MK has the ability to form a government.
Decision on Sunday
Herzog said he would use the period before Sunday to speak directly with party leaders and explore whether the political deadlock could be overcome.
“I intend to task a member of Knesset with forming the government this coming Sunday,” he said.
“In these talks, I intend to leave no stone unturned in an effort to reach out and build a stable and good government for the people of Israel.”
The lawmaker who receives the mandate will have 28 days to form a government, with the president empowered to grant an extension of up to 14 additional days.
