Arab party recommends opposition leader Eisenkot to form Israeli government

Israel's Arab party Ra'am on Thursday recommended opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot to form the next government, Israeli media reported.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said representatives of the party, including Chairman Mansour Abbas, Yoav Seglovitz and Iman Khatib Yasin, conveyed their recommendation to President Isaac Herzog to task Eisenkot with forming a government.

Ra'am won eight seats in the 120-member Knesset in last week's elections.

The recommendation brings the number of lawmakers who have formally recommended Eisenkot to 56, including 48 lawmakers from Jewish opposition parties and eight from Ra'am. The Arab-led Joint List has yet to announce its position.

By comparison, the number of lawmakers expected to recommend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fallen to 46 after his political ally, United Torah Judaism, declined to endorse him, despite holding seven Knesset seats. The party said it would not recommend any candidate.

A candidate needs the support of at least 61 of the Knesset's 120 members to secure a parliamentary majority and form a government.

Herzog is expected to task a lawmaker with forming a government in the coming days. The designated lawmaker will have 28 days to do so, with a possible extension of another 14 days.