Photo: President’s Residence, Jerusalem / Haim Zach / Government Press Office of Israel / CC BY-SA 3.0
The Democrats recommended Gadi Eisenkot to form Israel’s next government on Thursday, while Otzma Yehudit recommended Benjamin Netanyahu, as President Isaac Herzog continued consultations with the parties elected to the Knesset.
The recommendations were reported by The Jerusalem Post in its developing report updated at 11:32 a.m. Israel time Thursday, or 4:32 a.m. Eastern. They are party recommendations, not a decision awarding either candidate the task of forming a government.
UTJ declines to recommend anyone
United Torah Judaism told Herzog it would not recommend a candidate. The Post reported that MK Yitzhak Pindrus said protecting people who study Torah was the party’s priority.
The Democrats’ delegation backed Eisenkot, the leader of Yashar. Otzma Yehudit’s delegation backed Netanyahu.
At the time of the Post’s update, Likud, Ra’am, the Joint List, B’Yachad and Yashar were still due to meet Herzog later Thursday. Likud was expected to recommend Netanyahu, while the others were expected to recommend Eisenkot. Those anticipated recommendations had not yet been reported as completed.
The consultations follow Wednesday’s meetings, when the Religious Zionist Party, Shas and Zehut recommended Netanyahu and Yisrael Beytenu recommended Eisenkot, according to the Post.
The immediate development is that more parties have put their preferences on the record. The report did not announce that Herzog had awarded a mandate to form the next government.
JBizNews Desk | Politics
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