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Israel’s two Arab-majority parties are expected to recommend Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot to form the next government, which would bring his backing to a parliamentary majority of 67 lawmakers, according to Israeli expectations reported by Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency (AA).
Representatives of the United Arab List (Ra’am) and the Joint List met in Nazareth on Monday to coordinate ahead of President Isaac Herzog’s consultations, and a senior Joint List official told Haaretz that the party is leaning toward recommending Eisenkot, pending agreement of all its factions.
The Joint List said the two parties agreed on moves to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana "to enable the establishment of an alternative government to the Netanyahu government."
Ra’am called it "a big step in coordination between us, with the aim of replacing the Netanyahu government together with the change bloc."
The Democrats party decided Monday to recommend Eisenkot, following former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Together party, which announced its backing Sunday.
Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman said he would also recommend Eisenkot but blamed him for the opposition’s 48 seats.
"We suffered a crushing defeat, and no one should spin a different story. Forty-eight seats is far less than what we expected," Liberman said, adding, "The responsibility lies first and foremost with Eisenkot and his people."
Liberman ruled out joining a Netanyahu government or a minority government and said he would back Together’s Yair Lapid to replace Ohana.
"We will act with all our strength to replace him quickly," he said.
The ultra-Orthodox Shas party will recommend that Herzog task Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with forming the government. Its representatives are due to meet Herzog on Wednesday.
Netanyahu’s bloc holds 53 seats, Eisenkot’s bloc 48 and the Arab parties 19. Herzog will begin consultations after receiving official results Wednesday; the designated lawmaker has 28 days, extendable by 14, to form a government.
"Netanyahu will not hesitate to bring Israel to a security escalation and state of emergency to delay the change of government, while dictatorially ignoring the will of the Israeli voter," Democrats leader Yair Golan said.
Liberman also said he would not support any bid by Netanyahu for the presidency.
"If he wants a pardon, he needs to ask. He is not asking for a pardon, but for cancellation of the trial," he said.
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