Joint List lines up behind Eisenkot in bid to block Netanyahu
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Arab-led parties said they will support opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, giving him a possible Knesset majority after the election and intensifying the challenge to Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc.
The alliance of Arab-led parties known as the Joint List said it will recommend opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot to President Isaac Herzog as the next prime ministerial candidate. The move follows the recent parliamentary election in which Arab parties secured a record 19 seats in the 120-member Knesset, handing the bloc substantial influence in the coalition negotiations now under way.
"The Joint List announced today, Thursday, that it will inform the President of the State, Isaac Herzog, this evening of its decision to recommend that Gadi Eisenkot be tasked with forming the government," the alliance said in a statement.
If the Joint List’s 11 lawmakers submit their recommendation, Eisenkot would be backed by 67 members of the Knesset, surpassing the 61-seat majority needed to form a government. Earlier, the Ra’am party, which holds eight seats, also indicated it would support Eisenkot.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc currently holds 53 seats, but the United Torah Judaism faction, representing four of its seven seats, announced it would not endorse any candidate, reflecting divisions over recent legislation concerning military service exemptions for Haredi men.
President Herzog has accepted the certified election results and is consulting party leaders to decide which Knesset member should be tasked with forming the next government. He has several days to make a decision, after which the appointed candidate will have up to 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension, to assemble a coalition. Failure by either candidate could trigger a new election early next year.