President Herzog to Decide Who Gets First Chance to Form Israeli Government
Translated & summarized from Globes by baba
Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog will consult with party representatives after election results are published to decide who gets the first opportunity to form a government. The law allows the President broad discretion, not requiring the largest party or a specific number of recommendations. Historically, the mandate often goes to the candidate with the most recommendations, but this is not legally binding. In four of the last five elections, the first candidate tasked with forming a government failed to succeed.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- President Yitzhak Herzog will consult parties to decide who gets the first mandate to form a government.
- The law allows the President to task any Knesset member who agrees to the role.
- There is no legal requirement for the candidate to be from the largest party or have the most recommendations.
- Historically, the candidate with the most recommendations usually receives the mandate first.
- In four of the last five elections, the first candidate tasked with forming a government failed to succeed.
Following the official publication of election results, Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog will consult with party representatives to determine who will receive the first mandate to form a government. Each party's representatives will visit the President's Residence to explain why their chosen candidate should be tasked with forming the next coalition. The law requires the President to assign this task within one week of the election results being published. Although the consultations occur before the new Knesset is sworn in, they are legally based on the incoming Knesset's factions.
The law stipulates that the President can task any Knesset member who agrees to the role with forming a government. This means there is no legal requirement for a candidate to be the leader of the largest party or to secure a specific number of recommendations from other parties. Technically, the President's discretion is broad.
Historically, the mandate has often gone to the candidate with the most recommendations, though this is not a strict legal requirement. For instance, in 1984, Shimon Peres received the mandate partly because his party was the largest, even with 60 recommendations. However, in several elections, including 1983, 2009, September 2019, and 2020, the mandate was given to the second-largest party if it garnered more recommendations. Despite this practice, the law does not mandate counting recommendations, with the guiding principle being to assign the task to the individual with the highest likelihood of success.
Interestingly, in four out of the last five election cycles, the candidate who initially received the mandate to form a government ultimately failed to do so. The article also notes a specific instance in the 2022 elections where the Otzma Yehudit party requested and received permission to consult separately from the Religious Zionism party, even though they ran on a joint list, with the split into separate factions formally occurring only after the Knesset was sworn in.
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