Once Central Elections Committee chairman Judge Noam Solberg presents the official election results, and barring any last-minute drama, President Yitzchak Herzog will open consultations tomorrow (Wednesday) with the factions elected to the Knesset, ahead of assigning the mandate to form the government.
But what are the rules? What is required and what is optional, what happens if a faction wants to avoid recommending anyone, or wants to recommend two different candidates? Here is how the process works.
The President's Role: Finding Who Can Succeed
According to Basic Law: The Government, once election results are known, President Herzog holds consultations with all factions elected to the Knesset. Based on these consultations, the president assigns the task of forming a government to one member of Knesset. The president must make this assignment within seven days of the publication of election results.
The president assigns the task to the MK who has the best chance of forming a government — usually the one with the highest number of recommendations or the backing of a majority. The law does not require the president to choose the leader of the largest party, but rather whoever is most likely to succeed in building a coalition.
Who Comes
Each faction sends a delegation of representatives to the President's Residence. During the consultation, the faction's representatives present their position and announce whom they recommend to receive the mandate. Consultations are usually held separately with each faction, and sometimes representatives also explain what coalition options they are willing to consider.
The number of recommendations is calculated by the number of Knesset members in the factions supporting a candidate, not by the number of votes the parties received in the election. For example, a recommendation from a ten-seat faction gives the candidate the support of ten MKs.
What Happens in a Tie?
As stated, according to the law, the president's sole consideration is the candidate's chances of assembling a coalition that will win the confidence of the Knesset (61 MKs or more). In case of a tie in the number of recommendations, or a situation where no candidate has a clear majority, the president will act as follows:
Examining blocs and potential: The president will analyze which of the two candidates has a better ability to attract additional parties that did not recommend him, or who is capable of creating compromises that will prevent another election.
Second round of consultations: The president may summon party leaders again for clarification talks to check if anyone is willing to change their position or compromise.
Pressure for a unity government: In clear tie situations, Israeli presidents have traditionally pressed the two leading candidates to form a national unity government (sometimes with a rotation agreement), as happened in 1984 between Yitzchak Shamir and Shimon Peres.
The Factions' Options
According to the law and practice at the President's Residence, factions have three options during the consultation round:
Recommend a specific candidate: The most common choice. The faction names a particular MK (from their own faction or another) whom they want to receive the mandate.
Refrain from recommending ("not to recommend"): The faction comes to the meeting with the president but announces it does not support any candidate at this stage. In this case, the faction members' votes simply are not counted in the tally of recommendations for any candidate.
Recommend conditionally or present a complex position: Faction representatives can explain their political position to the president (for example: "We will recommend candidate X only if he commits to certain principles"), but at the bottom line, for the president's summary, they must decide whether to give a name or refrain.
Can You Recommend Two Candidates?
The answer is: no, a faction cannot recommend two different candidates simultaneously.
During the consultation round, each faction is required to present one clear position on behalf of all its members. In the summary of the meeting, it must choose one of two courses of action: either give all the faction's votes to one candidate only, or completely refrain from recommending (in which case no candidate receives its votes).
The only way votes from parties that ran together reach different candidates is if they split into separate factions immediately after the election (or if they are defined from the outset as separate factions forming a technical bloc, as was the case in the past with United Torah Judaism, composed of Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah). In that case, each faction may come separately to the president and recommend a different candidate.
However, within the same official faction, it is not possible to "divide" the votes or name two different people for the same mandate.
What Happens Next
First round: After the president assigns the task of forming a government to one MK, a 28-day race begins. During this period, the candidate must conduct coalition negotiations, formulate agreements with potential partners, and present a government that can win the confidence of the Knesset.
If he fails to complete the task, he may request an extension from the president. The president may grant him up to 14 additional days, all at once or in several extensions. In other words, the first candidate can receive at most 42 days. However, the extension is not automatic and is subject to the president's discretion.
Second round: If the first candidate fails, announces he cannot form a government, or the government he presented did not win the Knesset's confidence, the president has two options. Within three days he must decide whether to assign the task to another MK who has agreed to it, or to inform the Knesset speaker that he sees no possibility of forming a government.
If the president decides to assign the task to a second candidate, that person will have 28 days only, with no possibility of extension. There is no requirement that the second candidate be the leader of the second-largest party or the head of the rival bloc. The president may choose another MK, subject to his consent.
Third round: If the second candidate also fails, or if the president decided not to assign the task to another candidate, a special process begins in which the center of gravity shifts from the President's Residence to the Knesset.
For 21 days, at least 61 MKs may submit to the president a written request to assign the task of forming a government to a specific MK who has agreed to it in writing. In effect, any MK can be a candidate at this stage if he succeeds in gathering the signatures of 61 of his colleagues.
Unlike the first stage, where the president exercises discretion, in this case he is obligated to assign the task to the candidate who presented the required majority. He must do so within two days of receiving the request. That candidate will receive only 14 days to form a government, with no possibility of extension.
And if that also fails? If at the end of 21 days no request signed by at least 61 MKs has been submitted to the president, or if the candidate who received the last opportunity did not succeed in forming a government within 14 days, the Knesset is considered to have decided on its own dissolution. In that case, no additional vote on a law to dissolve the Knesset is needed. Elections for the next Knesset will be held within 90 days, in accordance with the provisions of Basic Law: The Government.
