Setback for Netanyahu as Israel’s Arab parties agree to back Eisenkot to form govt

The Joint List, an alliance of Arab political factions in Israel, on Thursday announced its support for Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot as its choice for the country's next prime minister. The alliance will formally recommend him to President Isaac Herzog during consultations on government formation.Gadi Eisenkot, leader of Yashar, is set to receive Joint List's backing. (Bloomberg)"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 party said in a statement, as per AFP.Eisenkot is now set to receive recommendations from 67 members of the 120-seat Knesset, putting him ahead of incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose Likud party-alliance has 58 seats. The tally includes eight lawmakers from the Arab-led Ra'am party, which had earlier announced its support, and 11 members of the Joint List, The Times of Israel reported.Arab-led parties won a record 19 seats in Israel’s 120-seat parliament in last week’s general election.The recommendations come despite Eisenkot's earlier position on Arab parties joining his government. In a September 26 interview with Channel 12, the Yashar leader said Ra'am would not be part of his next government, arguing that no Arab or ultra-Orthodox party then met his conditions for joining a coalition.“At the moment I don’t see any Arab or Haredi parties who accept these principles, including [Ra’am leader] Mansour Abbas, and therefore he won’t be part of my next government,” Eisenkot said earlier.Netanyahu faces uncertainty over supportNetanyahu's bloc, which holds 53 seats, may not secure recommendations from all its members. Degel HaTorah, which controls four of the seven seats held by United Torah Judaism, has said it will not recommend either candidate.The ultra-Orthodox faction has distanced itself from Netanyahu over his government's failure to pass legislation exempting Haredi men from compulsory military service, according to The Times of Israel.Herzog begins consultations with party leadersHerzog has accepted the certified results of last week's parliamentary election and begun consultations with political parties to decide who should be tasked with forming the next government.On Wednesday, Herzog met representatives of the Religious Zionism, Zehut, Shas and Yisrael Beytenu parties. He said the delegations had submitted their recommendations on which Knesset member should receive the mandate to form the government. Herzog said consultations would continue on Thursday.Once the process concludes, the president will select the candidate he believes has the best chance of securing a parliamentary majority. The choice is expected to be between Netanyahu and Eisenkot.The candidate appointed will have 28 days to form a government, with a possible extension of 14 days. If neither candidate manages to secure the support needed to form a coalition, Israel could head for another election early next year.