Israeli president urges opposition leader Eisenkot to form new government

Israeli President Isaac Herzog announced on Saturday that he has decided to order opposition leaderGadi Eisenkot   to form a new government.

"President Herzog has invited Gadi Eisenkot to the presidential residence, and tomorrow, at 5 p.m. (15:00 GMT), he will be entrusted with forming a government," the presidency said in a statement.

In the round of consultations with the Knéset (Israeli Parliament) parties, Eisenkot won the support of 67 Members of Parliament , while Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu won 46. UTJ, a party historically part of Netanyahu's coalition, which has 7 seats, refused to support a candidate.

When the president chooses a member, that leader has 28 days - which could last another 14 days - to form a new executive. If he fails to do so in those 42 days, Herzog could choose another candidate to try to form a government.Netanyahu, who has been Israel's prime minister for 19 years, has called for a "unity government," along with his opposition Likud, to prevent Arab parties from becoming part of the government.

Eisenkot's Yashar! party has described Netanyahu's speech as "hysterical," adding that "he has begun to talk about unity when he has realized that his days in office have come to an end." Thus, he has asked him to announce the end of his alliance with the Zionist "extremists" and to show his readiness to "join the government that Eisenkot will lead."

Eisenkot himself has written a message in his X account calling for the formation of a "national emergency government."

The leader of Israel's main Arab list, Yusef Yabarin, has claimed that he supported Eisenkot by "supporting Eisenkort, who has chosen what is not so bad." Despite his strong ideological differences, Yabarin has advocated collaborating with Eisenkorte to replace Netanyahu.