Eisenkot emerges as frontrunner to form Israeli government

Israeli President Isaac Herzog is holding decisive meetings Thursday with party representatives to select a candidate to form a new government, with opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot emerging as the frontrunner after gaining Arab party support and a breakaway by ultra-Orthodox lawmakers from Netanyahu's coalition. Eisenkot's bloc, which includes conservative, centrist, and left-wing parties, now holds 48 seats, while Netanyahu's Likud-led faction has dropped to 46 after the United Torah Judaism party declined to recommend any candidate. The Ra'am Arab party also endorsed Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff, ahead of his meeting with Herzog. The president's choice is not based solely on seat counts but on who has the best chance of forming a viable coalition. Eisenkot had previously pledged in August to exclude Ra'am and ultra-Orthodox parties from his government.