JERUSALEM: Gadi Eisenkot, tasked on Sunday with forming a new government, said he was open to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and one of his far-right allies joining but under him as the new leader.
“If members of Likud and the Religious Zionist Party truly believe this is a time for unity, as they told the president, I cannot conceive of any reason why they would not support a government under my leadership and the principles I have presented,” Eisenkot said, referring to Netanyahu’s party and that of the far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Netanyahu, who has been prime minister on and off for nearly two decades and has led war on Gaza, Lebanon and Iran since the October 7, 2023 attacks, lost support in last month’s election but no side claimed an outright majority.
In consultations last week with Herzog, Eisenkot received recommendations from parties accounting for 67 lawmakers, against 46 for Netanyahu.
But the vote count included Israeli Arabs, whose seat haul surged to a historic high on anger over Netanyahu’s government, which includes far-right firebrands who have openly sought to marginalize the community.
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