Israeli president tasks Gadi Eisenkot with forming government

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has chosen Gadi Eisenkot to have the first opportunity to form a new Israeli government, according to a statement released by his office on Saturday evening.

The statement said Eisenkot was informed of Herzog's "intention to task him with forming a government" and would be invited to the president's residence, where a formal ceremony will take place on Sunday.

The decision comes after a neck-and-neck race with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel's October election.

Eisenkot's wide-ranging group, fashioned in opposition to Netanyahu, won 48 of the Israeli parliament's 120 seats in October's elections. Netanyahu's camp secured 53, leaving neither with the required majority of 61 seats.

Former Israeli military chief Eisenkot is the leader of the centrist Yashar party and heads an anti-Netanyahu alliance.

While Netanyahu ruled out working with Arab parties to gain a majority, both Arab majority lists had announced during the week that they would recommend Eisenkot to be next prime minister.

The move is the first step toward what will almost certainly be complicated coalition talks.

Should Eisenkot succeed in forming a government, he would take over as prime minister from Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving premier, whose religious-nationalist coalition lost its majority in the election, despite emerging as the largest bloc.

Although Eisenkot was runner up, he managed to secure endorsements from leaders of Arab parties, which are opposed to Netanyahu.

Eisenkot faces a tricky path to forming a government, involving difficult constellations of Arab and ultra-Orthodox parties. He will have 28 days to round up the 61 votes needed to form a government.

Herzog can provide a 14-day extension if Eisenkot comes up short before the mandate must be offered to someone else.

If no candidate succeeds, Israel will head to fresh elections.