Israeli President Isaac Herzog begins deliberations on Wednesday on whom to task to form a government, with neither veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor rival Gadi Eisenkot holding enough seats after a divisive election.
Herzog holds a largely ceremonial role, but carries the decisive vote on who will have the first chance to try to be prime minister — a process that could last weeks or even months and may end in failure and new elections.
The Israeli president’s statements have raised speculation that he could sound out leaders on joining a unity government, hoping to bring stability in the Zionist entity, which is sharply polarized after three years of war and Netanyahu’s hard-right politics.
After officially receiving the results of the October 27 election, Herzog begins two days of consultations with parties at 5:00 pm (1500 GMT), starting with the ultranationalist Religious Zionism.
Herzog’s office said he was deliberately starting with the smaller parties, hoping to hear all views, and would wait until late Thursday to meet the two biggest, Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud and Yashar, a broad center to center-right opposition party launched by Eisenkot, a former military chief.
Neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot holds the 61 seats needed to secure a majority in the 120-member parliament.
Netanyahu’s bloc has an edge, with 53 seats as opposed to Eisenkot’s 48.
Eisenkot could reach the threshold if he allies with parties from the Arab minority, whose seat count surged to 19 on outrage against Netanyahu’s hard-right government.
But some in the opposition have baulked at relying on non-Jewish lawmakers’ votes.
Charges of Fraud Rejected
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Israeli electoral authorities rejected allegations promoted by Netanyahu of fraud by Arab parties, who could hold the key to removing him from power.
The Central Elections Committee said it had conducted an audit of 9,069 polling stations following complaints and was confident that the announced results “accurately reflect the will of the voters.”
“All complaints submitted by political factions have been reviewed and there were no findings indicating harm to the integrity of the election,” it said in a statement.
Netanyahu has repeatedly alleged fraud by Arab-majority parties, pointing to the arrests of several people with envelopes of cash on election day and later claiming lawmakers received money from Qatar — allegations that have been levelled at his own aides in the past.
Late on Tuesday, Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said she would not question anyone without evidence after reports that the head of the Israeli security service Shin Bet, a Netanyahu ally, had asked to interrogate Arab parties.
Source: Agencies (edited by Al-Manar)