Eisenkot Mandate: Joint List, Ra'am Expected to Back Him

President Isaac Herzog opens consultations with the Knesset factions on Wednesday, and the Joint List and Ra'am are expected to recommend Yashar! leader Gadi Eisenkot for prime minister, a senior Joint List official told Walla. The Jerusalem Post reported that Eisenkot is expected to be the first candidate handed the mandate, which would give him 28 days to build a coalition, with the option of a 14-day extension.

Neither camp reached the 61 seats required for a majority in the 120-member Knesset. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc took 53 seats, while the bloc seeking to replace him took 48. The two Arab parties won a record 19 seats between them. Their 19 recommendations, combined with the opposition's 48, would give Eisenkot 67.

For anyone following Israel from abroad, the practical result is that the country's next government will not be settled quickly. The new Knesset is expected to be sworn in on November 10, whatever the state of the coalition talks, and the first mandate holder will have up to six weeks to present a government.

Ynet offered a different tally, drawn from the bloc's own calculations. Under that count, Eisenkot can rely on recommendations from Yashar!, Beyachad and the Democrats. Without Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beytenu, he is expected to collect 60 recommendations against 46 for Netanyahu, and he would reach the same 67 only if Liberman's party joins. United Torah Judaism is expected to stay uncommitted, at least at the outset.

On Saturday, Eisenkot laid out four principles for joining his proposed coalition, declaring that "any MK" who accepts them could become a partner. He described his goal as the broadest possible Zionist, statesmanlike government, built from lawmakers who share common ground on Israel's fundamental character, national service obligations, and ending Hamas's military and governing capabilities in Gaza.

Last week, Democrats leader Yair Golan urged the opposition to form a coalition with the Arab parties.

Herzog used Sunday's state memorial ceremony for Chaim Weizmann, Israel's first president, to press party leaders to accept the outcome of the vote.

"The election results are an established fact – they are the reality. And now is the time to tell all the leaders: Stop climbing trees and position yourselves in front of this reality," Herzog said.

The president pledged that "we will try to put up ladders" for the leaders at the President's Residence this week, and urged them to arrive with "open minds" and "open hearts" to "find creative solutions to prevent another election." He is due to receive the official results on Wednesday from Justice Noam Sohlberg, chairman of the Central Elections Committee and deputy president of the High Court (Bagatz).

The consultations are expected to continue into Thursday and may run into Friday. The law gives Herzog seven days to consult the factions and assign the mandate, setting a deadline of November 11. He is under no legal obligation to pick the candidate with the most recommendations.

The timing also matters for the judicial overhaul. Laws passed under Netanyahu's government covering the attorney general, the composition of the judge-selection committee and the Justice Ministry's Police Internal Investigations Department are due to take effect in January.

If the talks collapse, the possible outcomes include another election, a unity government between Netanyahu and members of Eisenkot's bloc, or a minority government.

The opposition bloc is already split over who should chair the Knesset. As JFeed reported on Sunday, Eisenkot is demanding that the post go to a member of his party, while Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett are rejecting Eisenkot's bid for the speakership. The seat is currently held by Speaker Amir Ohana of Likud.