Eisenkot tipped to seek Israel government as religious party drops Netanyahu.
The post Eisenkot tipped to seek Israel government as religious party drops Netanyahu appeared first on Vanguard News .
Gadi Eisenkot emerged on Thursday as the favourite to be tasked with trying to form an Israeli government as a religious party long aligned with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to recommend him.
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 choose by himself 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. The opposition leader also received a recommendation from a key lawmaker from the Israeli-Arab minority, whose seats in parliament soared due to outrage over Netanyahu’s policies, even as Eisenkot has remained unclear on whether he would accept Arab support to form a government. United Torah Judaism, which backed Netanyahu after the previous five elections, in its meeting with Herzog declined to recommend Netanyahu again as prime minister, although it also did not side with Eisenkot. The party informed Herzog “that it has decided not to recommend any member of Knesset to form a government,” the president’s office said in a statement, referring to the 120-member parliament in which United Torah Judaism has won seven seats.
MSEApp News is publishing an original rewrite of this tip for readers, based on reporting associated with Vanguard.