Eisenkot favoured as Netanyahu ally withholds endorsement

Gadi Eisenkot has emerged as the favourite to form an Israeli government following the October 27 election, in which neither he nor Benjamin Netanyahu secured enough votes for a majority. While President Isaac Herzog is tasked with choosing who will form the new government, the mandate is traditionally given to the person recommended by more parties, which would be Eisenkot.

The position of Benjamin Netanyahu weakened after the ultra-Orthodox Jewish party United Torah Judaism, which had backed Netanyahu after the previous five elections, declined to recommend him to stay as prime minister. According to the president's office, the party informed Herzog that it decided not to recommend any member of Knesset to form a government, though it also did not side with Eisenkot.

Al-Monitor reports that an Arab-led party endorsed Eisenkot, who is the main opponent of Netanyahu. RTE News notes that while Eisenkot received a recommendation from a key lawmaker from the Israeli-Arab minority, it remains unclear if he would accept Arab support to form a government.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria, Al-Monitor, RTE News, Hindustan Times - World News, New Straits Times — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.