Israeli President Isaac Herzog has given opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot the first chance to form a government, a setback for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose bloc finished 14 seats short of his rival’s backers. Herzog announced the decision Saturday night, a day earlier than expected, according to the Associated Press.
The timing was pointed. AP reported that the announcement came shortly after Netanyahu released a video calling for a “national unity government” and warning against “hastily swearing in a government with terrorist supporters,” an apparent reference to the Arab-led parties that now sit at the center of the count.
Eisenkot, a former military chief who led the challengers’ bloc, did not take the offer. His Yashar party answered on X, and AP said it urged Likud members to disavow their alliance with “radical parties,” an apparent reference to the harder-right partners in Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist base. Eisenkot himself said, as relayed on X, that “those who have divided and torn apart Israeli society from within only mention the word ‘unity’ when they realize their time in office is coming to an end.”
