Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday accepted the certified results of last week’s parliamentary elections and opened consultations with party leaders on who should try to form the next government, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fraud claims, Al Jazeera reported.
“The elections are over. Now is the time to face reality,” Herzog said. Neither Netanyahu’s bloc (53 seats) nor Gadi Eisenkot’s (48) won the 61 needed to govern in the 120-member Knesset; Arab-led parties won a record 19 seats.
Ra’am said it would recommend Eisenkot, lifting his expected endorsements toward 56, still short of a majority. Ultra-Orthodox Degel HaTorah said it would recommend neither candidate, weakening Netanyahu’s path.
Herzog met several factions Wednesday and was to continue Thursday, with Likud and Eisenkot’s Yashar party scheduled last. He has several days to choose a nominee, who then has up to 28 days — plus a possible extension — to assemble a coalition.
Israel’s election commission earlier found no evidence of irregularities affecting the results. Herzog urged compromise to avoid a new election and condemned racist rhetoric aimed at Palestinian-Israeli voters.
Al Jazeera, The New York Times
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Herzog has until about Nov. 11 to decide whom to task first. If both Netanyahu and Eisenkot fail, Israel could face another election early next year. The New York Times reported Eisenkot’s camp is weighing whether and how to rely on Arab-led parties that Netanyahu’s allies have sought to delegitimize.
Sources: Al Jazeera, The New York Times
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