Israel president set to invite Eisenkot to form govt as opposition bloc backs him

• Gadi Eisenkot secures 67 recommendations to form Israel's next government.

• Arab parties back Eisenkot, while ultra-Orthodox UTJ abstains.

• Netanyahu's bloc falls short of a Knesset majority, with coalition negotiations ahead.

Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot is expected to receive the mandate to form Israel's next government from President Isaac Herzog after securing the backing of a majority of party representatives during consultations at the President's Residence on Thursday, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Eisenkot secured 67 recommendations, with all parties in the opposition bloc seeking to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu throwing their weight behind him. These include Yashar, Naftali Bennett's B'Yachad, Yair Golan's The Democrats and Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beytenu.

The two Arab parties, Ra'am and the Joint List, also recommended Eisenkot. However, their support does not necessarily mean they will join his governing coalition.

According to the Post, the Yashar delegation made it clear during its meeting with Herzog that, although it was asked about the possibility of a unity government involving Netanyahu, its immediate priority would be to form an 'emergency national government' to address what it described as the damage caused by the outgoing prime minister's administration.

The recommendations come against the backdrop of a fractured electoral verdict, with neither political bloc securing the 61 seats required for a majority in the Knesset. Netanyahu's bloc secured 53 seats, while the opposition bloc won 48. The Arab parties, Ra'am and the Joint List, together secured a record 19 seats.

Under Israel's Basic Law: The Government, the candidate chosen by the President has 28 days to assemble a governing coalition. The President can grant a further extension of up to 14 days if necessary. The newly elected Knesset is scheduled to be sworn in on 10 November, irrespective of the progress of government formation or coalition negotiations.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu's supporters included his Likud party, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party, Moshe Feiglin's Zehut and Arye Deri's Shas.

The ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism (UTJ), a longstanding coalition partner of Netanyahu, declined to recommend any candidate for prime minister. Its decision to abstain comes amid reported tensions between the party and Netanyahu and works to the advantage of the opposition bloc seeking to replace him.

Opposition leaders have recently indicated a greater willingness to accommodate ultra-Orthodox parties in their prospective coalition, potentially widening the scope for negotiations.

The Post also reported that Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas had reiterated his party's support for the full disarmament of Hamas, one of the four principles Eisenkot has laid down as a condition for joining his coalition.

"Arab society, and I as an individual, as well as Arab citizens as a whole, we are a bridge. Let's not destroy that bridge," Abbas said.