Israel’s Herzog accepts vote results, opens talks on forming a government

What the report says

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog has accepted the certified results of last week’s parliamentary election and started consultations with party leaders on who should be asked to form the next government, Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday. The move weakens Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempts to challenge the vote, after his bloc and its allies fell short of a majority in the 120-seat parliament.

According to the report, neither Netanyahu’s camp nor the bloc led by opposition figure Gadi Eisenkot reached the 61 seats needed to govern. Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats, while Eisenkot’s side won 48. That leaves open several coalition paths, including a possible partnership between the two main rivals or a deal between Eisenkot and Arab-led parties, which achieved record gains in the election.

Al Jazeera said Herzog began meeting party representatives on Wednesday night. Some factions recommended Netanyahu, while others backed Eisenkot. Ra’am said it would support Eisenkot, and the Joint List had not yet disclosed its position. The president will choose the candidate he believes is best placed to build a coalition, who will then have 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension, to form a government.

The article also noted that Israel’s elections commission said it found no evidence that alleged fraud or irregularities affected the result, and the attorney general rejected calls to question elected officials without supporting evidence. If no coalition is formed, Israel could face another election early next year.