Eisenkot says Netanyahu's attempt to discredit election results has failed, welcoming assurances over vote integrity as neither bloc secures a governing majority.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has announced that his parliamentary bloc would recommend that President Isaac Herzog task Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming the next government, strengthening Eisenkot’s prospects of receiving the first mandate.
Bennett’s Together party said in a statement that the decision was made at his direction.
It added that Bennett had informed Eisenkot of his decision.
The development came as Eisenkot described the 26th Knesset election results as “firm and clear”, citing Central Elections Committee Chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg’s assurances that the vote was conducted with integrity.
Separately, Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the Democrats Party, led by Yair Golan, also intended to recommend Eisenkot during the upcoming presidential consultations. Golan had not issued an official announcement on the matter.
“Despicable and malicious”
Eisenkot said on Sunday that efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party to discredit the results of last week’s parliamentary elections and steer the country toward another election had “failed.”
In a post on the US social media platform X, Eisenkot described the attempt as “despicable and malicious.”
“The despicable and malicious attempt to disown the election results, challenge the public’s will, smear an entire community and drag Israel into new elections has failed,” Eisenkot wrote.
“Only someone who realises he has lost would be prepared to wage such a crude delegitimisation campaign, even at the cost of further damaging public trust in state institutions,” he added.
Elections for the 26th Knesset were held last Tuesday. Final results officially published on Friday by the Central Elections Committee gave Netanyahu’s Likud party 27 seats compared with 21 for Eisenkot’s Yashar party, 12 for Bennett’s Together and eight for Golan’s Democrats.
The Joint List won 11 seats, while the United Arab List, known as Ra’am, secured eight.
Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats overall compared with 48 for opposition parties and 19 for Arab parties. Neither main bloc reached the 61 seats required for a majority in the 120-member parliament.
Voter turnout stood at 77.9%.
Central Elections Committee Chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg is scheduled to submit the official results to Herzog on Nov. 4.
The president is due to begin consultations that day with representatives of the elected parties and parliamentary blocs to hear their recommendations on whom to task with forming a government.
The designated candidate receives an initial 28 days to form a government, with the possibility of a further 14-day extension.
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