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Israeli President Isaac Herzog has tasked Gadi Eisenkot with forming the country's next government. This brings an end to the rule of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a political rival of the former army chief.

The president's spokesperson said Herzog informed Eisenkot of his decision on Saturday (November 7) evening. He will formally hand over the responsibility of forming the government to him at a ceremony on Sunday.

According to an Al Jazeera report, no side secured a majority in the general election held on October 27. Following the election, the Israeli president held discussions with political parties this week to decide who would be given the responsibility of forming the government.

Around 67 members of Israel's parliament, the Knesset, have expressed support for Eisenkot. Members of Arab-led parties are also among them. As the leader of Eisenkot's Yashar party, he has been tasked with forming the next government. Meanwhile, only 46 lawmakers have expressed support for incumbent Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Eisenkot will have 28 days to form a government. If necessary, this period can be extended by another 14 days. He must form a coalition with the support of at least 61 of the Knesset's 120 members. This is the minimum number required for a majority to form a government.
In last month's election, Eisenkot's four-party alliance won 48 seats. On the other hand, Netanyahu's alliance of right-wing and religious parties secured 53 seats. As a result, both sides fell short of the 61 seats required to form a government. Arab-led parties representing Palestinian citizens of Israel won a record 19 seats in the election.

However, Eisenkot has ruled out the possibility of forming a government with Arab-led parties. With their support, his alliance would have 67 seats. On the other hand, if he receives support from the two ultra-conservative ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, his alliance would have exactly 61 seats. He can also form a government with fewer than 61 seats if he secures support in a confidence vote in parliament.

Al Jazeera correspondent Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said Herzog had chosen the most expected course of action by assigning the responsibility to Eisenkot, who received the highest number of recommendations.

Odeh said, "Now the difficult task begins for Eisenkot. He must form a government that can win a confidence vote in the Knesset. At the same time, this government must meet two conditions. One is to avoid breaking too many of the promises he made during the election campaign, while the other is to handle opposition from the right-wing alliance led by Netanyahu."

In an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday, Ahmad Tibi, a senior member of the Arab-led Joint List alliance, which won 11 seats, said Herzog's decision was "expected". He said, "We were concerned that the president might move towards forming a national unity government." He made the remarks in reference to a possible power-sharing agreement between Eisenkot and Netanyahu.

However, Arab-led parties eventually supported Eisenkot for the responsibility of forming the government. As a result, he moved ahead by a "significant margin", Tibi said. He believes Eisenkot could form a minority government with support from outside the Arab-led parties.

Tibi said, "This will not be a dream government for Arab-led parties. However, their priority is to remove the government of Netanyahu, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich from power." A few hours before Herzog announced his decision, Netanyahu had warned that Israel would face collapse if the opposition alliance formed a government with the support of Arab-led parties.

In a pre-recorded video statement, Netanyahu said, "A government dependent on Islamists will break apart the State of Israel from within, as is happening in European countries, and the situation will become even worse."

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