Overview
- President Isaac Herzog began consultations Wednesday after the Central Elections Committee certified the Oct. 27 results to decide which lawmaker will receive the first 28-day mandate to try to form a government.
- Opposition leaders issued a joint recommendation for Gadi Eisenkot and opened formal coalition talks but remain split over whether to depend on Arab-list votes to reach a working majority.
- The Central Elections Committee said its audit of 9,069 polling stations found no findings that would undermine the results, even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to allege irregularities.
- The two Arab-led blocs hold 19 Knesset seats and are key: the Joint List says it will back Eisenkot from outside government while Ra'am says it might join if offered the internal security portfolio.
- Negotiations could produce a minority government with outside Arab support, a unity pact, shifts from ultra-Orthodox parties that change the math, or new elections, and regional developments such as U.S. policy on Iran could alter those calculations.