Israel's president tasks opposition leader Eisenkot with forming government

Isaac Herzog has been holding talks with political parties after neither Eisenkot's bloc nor that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secured a majority in Israel's parliament, known as the Knesset, following last week's election. "Now is the time to form a national emergency government. I will do everything to ensure we are worthy," the former military chief wrote on X.

Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies won 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, while Eisenkot's centrist Yashar party and three other Jewish opposition parties in his bloc won 48. Two Arab-led alliances, the United Arab List and the Joint List, together won an unprecedented 19 seats following a surge in turnout among Arab voters. That positions them as potential kingmakers.

However, all but one of the Jewish parties pledged before the polls not to work with them to form a government. Herzog said that, after consulting all parties during the week, he would give Eisenkot the first chance to form a government.