The Democrats party announced on Monday that it would recommend Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot to President Isaac Herzog as its candidate to form the next government, ahead of the president’s consultations with party representatives beginning Wednesday.
The announcement came after the two other party leaders in the bloc seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Naftali Bennett (B’Yachad) and Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu), said they would recommend Eisenkot.
Until now, Eisenkot had called for the leader of the largest party in the opposition bloc to become its candidate for prime minister.
However, no agreement on the arrangement was announced within the opposition bloc by Bennett, Lieberman, or Democrats leader Yair Golan ahead of the elections.
Talks at the President’s Residence will begin Wednesday, when Eisenkot may be the first candidate to receive the mandate from the president, giving him 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension, to form a coalition.
Golan calls for opposition bloc to form coalition with Arab parties
Golan has called for the opposition bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu to form a coalition with the Arab parties.
The other heads of the opposition parties had previously drawn a red line to Arab parties being part of the government, saying they are not viable coalition partners after the October 7 massacre in 2023.
The opposition bloc lacks the required 61-seat Knesset majority without the support of the Arab parties. The election results showed that Netanyahu’s bloc maintained its lead, securing 53 seats in the next Knesset, while the opposition bloc won 48.
