President Isaac Herzog chose opposition leader and former military chief Gadi Eisenkot to try to form Israel's next government, a setback for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Herzog formally hands Eisenkot the mandate at a ceremony at the President's Residence at 5 pm local time on Sunday, 8 November. Eisenkot then has 28 days to build a coalition, and the president can grant another 14 days.
In the election, Netanyahu's religious-nationalist bloc stayed the largest force but lost its parliamentary majority. No bloc commands the 61 seats needed to govern in the 120-member Knesset.
Herzog held consultations with the parties elected to the Knesset before deciding. Eisenkot received 67 recommendations from lawmakers for the premiership, against 46 for Netanyahu, while 7 lawmakers recommended no one.
The numbers behind the decision
Netanyahu's Likud won 27 seats, the most for any single party, but his alliance secured only 53 seats, eight short of the 61 needed to govern.
Eisenkot's Yashar party won 21 seats, the second-largest tally. His four-party, Jewish-led bloc has 48 seats. Two parties representing Israel's Arab minority won a combined 19 seats and backed Eisenkot in the consultations.
Herzog announced the decision on X, saying he had tasked Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar party, after consultations and in-depth conversations over the past few days. He met both Netanyahu and Eisenkot to convey his intention.
A narrow path to government
Eisenkot's path is narrow. His options are a minority government with outside support from Arab lawmakers, a deal with ultra-Orthodox parties traditionally aligned with Netanyahu, or a broad unity government involving Netanyahu's Likud. Eisenkot has repeatedly said he will not serve in a government with Netanyahu.
Eisenkot set four conditions for potential partners: recognise Israel as a Jewish, democratic, liberal and egalitarian state; respect the values of the Declaration of Independence; support military or national service for all citizens; and recognise Hamas as a terrorist organisation and back the destruction of its military and governing capabilities in Gaza.
