Eisenkot leads recommendations as Herzog weighs the mandate
Factions representing 67 Knesset members recommended Yashar! chairman Gadi Eisenkot to form the next government. Factions representing 46 recommended Likud chairman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
President Isaac Herzog said he intends to assign the mandate on Sunday after speaking directly with some party leaders about who can assemble a government.
Likud was the last faction to arrive at the President’s Residence and recommended Netanyahu. During the meeting, Herzog told Minister Regev, “You can’t say things like that about Eisenkot, or about the right, or about Palestine, and then say that we want a unity government. A little perspective, please.”
After Likud’s representatives left and consultations with all factions elected to the 26th Knesset had concluded, Herzog addressed the media on Thursday evening, November 5, 25 Cheshvan.
“I would like to update the Israeli public following the conclusion of the consultation process. I met with representatives of all the factions. The discussions were open, candid, and at times pointed.
I asked difficult questions in an effort to encourage both the political parties and the public to break free from entrenched ways of thinking and open their minds to other possibilities.
The current situation is as follows: Representatives of factions comprising 67 Knesset members recommended Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar! party, while representatives of factions comprising 46 Knesset members recommended Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, chairman of the Likud party.
The results of these consultations appear, at first glance, to be clear. However, the authority vested in me by law requires me to determine who has the ability to form a government. That ability remains somewhat unclear, given the mutual refusals to cooperate between the political blocs, as well as divisions within the blocs themselves.
I intend to clarify this matter directly and swiftly through personal discussions with some of the party leaders. I intend to assign the mandate to form a government this coming Sunday.
In these discussions, I intend to leave no stone unturned in an effort to encourage cooperation and the extension of a hand toward building a stable and effective government for the people of Israel.”
Yashar! calls for an immediate mandate
The Yashar! with Eisenkot Party said Eisenkot had secured an absolute majority of recommendations and that his 67 were the most received by any candidate seeking to form a government since 2015.
The party argued that the result showed voters had chosen change and lost confidence in Netanyahu and his government. It described Netanyahu as heading a minority caretaker government with just 46 seats in the Knesset and argued that he lacked a mandate, a majority and public confidence.
Citing Israel’s security challenges and the urgent need to rebuild, Yashar! urged Herzog to give Eisenkot the mandate as soon as possible so he could form a national emergency government to serve all Israelis.
The party called on political leaders to put aside narrow political and personal considerations. It warned that failing to seize the opportunity could come at a heavy cost to Israel and lead to another election against voters’ wishes, calling the moment a test of leadership.
