Israel president taps Eisenkot to form new government

Israel's president has announced he will task Gadi Eisenkot with forming the next government following last week's election, in what Benjamin Netanyahu's rivals see as a first step to remove the country's longest-serving prime minister.

The opposition bloc led by Mr Eisenkot, a former military chief and political newcomer who has tried to appeal to secular and liberal Israelis, has opened the door to a once improbable alliance with ultra-Orthodox Jews, which could give it the numbers to form a coalition.

President Isaac Herzog said that after consultations with all parties during the week, he would grant Mr Eisenkot the first chance to form a government after the 27 October election, in which neither side secured a majority in a country deeply polarised by Mr Netanyahu's hard-right rule and worn down by three years of war.

The formal appointment would take place in an official ceremony tomorrow at the president's residence in Jerusalem, Mr Herzog's office said.

Mr Eisenkot was recommended by parties representing 67 politicians as opposed to 46 for Mr Netanyahu's bloc.

But the recommendations for Mr Eisenkot included members of Israel's Arab minority - whose seat haul soared in the election on the back of anger against Mr Netanyahu - and right-leaning segments of the opposition oppose relying on Arab votes.

Netanyahu pushes unity government

Mr Herzog, who originally came from Israel's now defunct left-wing Labour Party but who has a non-partisan role and has forged a working relationship with Mr Netanyahu, has signalled that he would like to explore a national unity government that would seek to bring together Jewish Israelis from across the political spectrum.

Pressure for a unity government could build if Mr Netanyahu follows through on threats to resume war on Iran, although US President Donald Trump has not given the green light and received his own drubbing in Tuesday's midterm elections.

Mr Netanyahu, who has led Israel on and off for nearly two decades and guided its sharply rightward turn in recent years, faces corruption charges and potentially jail if he leaves office.

He also faces an arrest warrant over the Gaza war from the International Criminal Court, whose authority he rejects.

Mr Netanyahu has already called for a unity government but the opposition has stood firm on removing him first.