President Isaac Herzog opened his consultations with party representatives on Wednesday over who should form the next government, The Jerusalem Post reports. By law, the president must consult the Knesset factions before deciding who receives the task of forming a government. The talks at the President's Residence started late. A security screening machine triggered an alert while checking visitors, and entry to the compound was halted. Jerusalem District police officers, including bomb disposal technicians, were sent to investigate. The consultations then went ahead.
Of the four factions seen on Wednesday, three recommended Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to receive the mandate, The Jerusalem Post reports. The first was the Religious Zionist Party, led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, whose delegation included Settlement and National Missions Minister Orit Strock, Itamar Eitam and Zvika Mor. Shas came next, with MKs Michael Malkieli, Yinon Azoulay, Yoav Ben-Tzur, Haim Biton and Dror Amos. Shas, led by Arye Deri, had announced on Tuesday that it would back Netanyahu. Zehut's Moshe Feiglin and Shai Malka also recommended Netanyahu and argued that the election results should be annulled.
Yisrael Beytenu, led by Avigdor Liberman, recommended Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar party, according to The Jerusalem Post. United Torah Judaism announced on Wednesday that it would not recommend anyone, ruling out a recommendation for Netanyahu, as it had given in the past. Ra'am announced the same day that it would support Eisenkot.
The Jerusalem Post reports the election results showed Netanyahu's bloc with 53 seats in the next Knesset and the opposition bloc with 48. The Arab parties, Ra'am and the Joint List, won a record 19 seats combined. If those 19 recommendations go to Eisenkot along with the opposition's 48, he would have 67 in total, which The Jerusalem Post says could prompt Herzog to grant him the mandate over Netanyahu.
Eisenkot is still expected to receive the mandate once Herzog finishes hearing from all the parties, many of which have said they intend to recommend him, The Jerusalem Post reports. The rest of the consultations are set to conclude on Thursday evening.
