Eisenkot gets president's nod to form Israel govt

Israel's president said he would task Gadi Eisenkot with forming the next government following last week's election, in a move opponents view as a step toward unseating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The opposition bloc led by Eisenkot, a former military chief and political newcomer who has tried to appeal to secular and liberal Israelis, has opened the door to a once improbable alliance with ultra-Orthodox Jews, which could give it the numbers to form a coalition.
President Isaac Herzog said that after consultations with all parties during the week, he would grant Eisenkot the first chance to form a government after the Oct. 27 election, in which neither side secured a majority in a country deeply polarized by Netanyahu's hard-right rule and worn down by three years of genocidal war on Gaza. The formal appointment would take place in an official ceremony Sunday at the president's residence in Jerusalem, Herzog's office said.
Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, has already called for a unity government as he attempts to retain power after his coalition lost its majority in the October 27 election even though it remained the largest bloc in parliament.He has attacked opposition leaders for even considering working with Israeli Arabs, descendants of Palestinians who stayed after the creation of Israel in 1948.