Israeli Parties Recommend Eisenkot or Netanyahu for Government Formation

The consultation process at the President's Residence continued Wednesday evening, with the Yisrael Beiteinu and Ra'am parties announcing their support for Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yishar party, to form the next government. In contrast, Shas, Religious Zionism, and the Identity faction recommended Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Representatives from Yisrael Beiteinu formally recommended Eisenkot, aligning with their party leader Avigdor Lieberman's earlier declaration that his party would support tasking Eisenkot with forming a government, though Lieberman ruled out a minority government supported by Arab parties. Ra'am also decided to recommend Eisenkot, joining other "change bloc" parties in supporting his candidacy, though the feasibility of him forming a majority government remains uncertain.

Shas recommended Netanyahu after its Council of Torah Sages decided to back his candidacy. The party stated that this decision followed Netanyahu's commitment to continue working on regulating the status of Torah scholars. Earlier, the Religious Zionism party also recommended Netanyahu. The party was represented at the President's Residence by Minister Orit Strock, Itamar Eitam, and Zvika Mor. Later in the evening, the Identity faction also joined the recommendations for Netanyahu, represented by Member of Knesset Moshe Feiglin and Shai Malka.