Netanyahu Rival Eisenkot….Told to form the next Israeli Govt…..

Let the Political deal making begin in Israel….

Can Netanyhu get another term in office on and off for 19 years…l

Could Arab parties (yes there ARE Arab parties in Israel’s Legislature) get a chance to dump Netanyahu ?…

 

Israel’s president on Saturday selected Gadi Eisenkot, the leading rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to try to form a new government, handing him the daunting task of forging a parliamentary coalition after an indecisive national election last month.

Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president, said he had held “in-depth talks” with both Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Eisenkot before making his decision. He ultimately tapped Mr. Eisenkot, a center-right former Israeli military chief, after more members of Parliament supported Mr. Eisenkot than Mr. Netanyahu during consultations over the past week.

The announcement gives Mr. Eisenkot a long-awaited chance to fulfill his pledge to unseat Mr. Netanyahu and steer Israel in a new direction, but he will have to navigate significant obstacles to form a government. He has up to six weeks to build a coalition before the president passes the opportunity to another candidate, most likely Mr. Netanyahu.

The election on Oct. 27 left all sides short of an outright 61-seat majority in Parliament. Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition won 53 seats; Mr. Eisenkot and his Zionist allies secured 48; and two Arab parties took a record 19.

Now that Mr. Eisenkot has received a mandate to form a government, he faces a series of difficult choices. He could join forces with the two Arab-led parties, but some of the right-wing Jewish parties in his bloc have said they would not enter a government that relied on their support. Mr. Eisenkot has also stipulated conditions that the Arab parties have yet to meet, such as publicly labeling Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Mr. Eisenkot said on Friday that he would work to establish a “national emergency government” to eject Mr. Netanyahu as soon as possible. That would probably mean forming a minority government, with support from some parties that would not formally join his coalition. Mr. Eisenkot has said other parties could join “at a later stage.”

“We must urgently establish stable, responsible leadership, prevent another round of elections and put an end to outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s determination to cling to office,” Mr. Eisenkot said.

Mr. Netanyahu has been prime minister for almost 19 years in all, through multiple periods dating back to 1996….

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