President Isaac Herzog of Israel began meetings with party leaders on Thursday to select a candidate to form a governing coalition after last week's national elections produced no clear winner. Isaac Herzog met with party leaders Thursday to select a prime ministerial candidate following last week's elections. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party secured the most seats, his right-wing alliance fell short of the 61-seat majority needed in Parliament, winning 53 seats.
The center-right opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot of the Yashar party won 48 seats, and Arab-led parties secured a record 19 seats. Herzog faces pressure to navigate complex ideological divides, particularly regarding Arab support. Gadi Eisenkot is expected to have the most support, with at least one Arab-led party backing him.
However, Eisenkot must unify the opposition and overcome resistance to forming a government with Arab lawmakers. The president has until November 11 to name the first person tasked with forming a coalition, who then has up to six weeks to establish a government. Eight seats went to Raam, the United Arab List led by Mansour Abbas, an Islamist party that made history in 2021 by joining an Israeli governing coalition.
Raam officials told Herzog they backed Eisenkot, though Mr. Abbas hesitated to label Hamas a terrorist group, a key condition for Eisenkot's coalition. Seven seats went to the center-left Democrats led by Yair Golan, who favor a two-state solution and support Eisenkot. Otzma Yehudit, a far-right party led by Itamar Ben-Gvir, also secured seats, further complicating coalition arithmetic.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing