Gadi Eisenkot tipped to seek Israel government with backing of Arab lists
Dawn · AFP ·
Arab-majority lists won an unprecedented 19 seats in the election, making them potential kingmakers if Eisenkot’s opposition chooses to work with them.
Israel’s largest Arab list on Thursday said it would back Gadi Eisenkot to form the next government, bolstering his chances of being picked over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who lost the support of an allied religious party.
President Isaac Herzog was holding a second day of consultations with political parties after the October 27 election, in which neither Netanyahu — a polarising right-winger who has led Israel through three years of war — nor Eisenkot — a former military chief promising to restore national unity — secured enough votes for a majority.
Herzog will himself choose whom to ask to form a new government, but traditionally the mandate is given to the person recommended by more parties, which would be Eisenkot.