Follow-Up: Ultra-Orthodox Party Withholds Recommendation as Arab Party Backs Eisenkot, Weakening Netanyahu
Jerusalem — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's position in the post-election contest to form a government weakened further on November 5, Reuters reported, after the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party declined to recommend any candidate to the president and an Arab-led party endorsed his main rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot.
United Torah Judaism, one of the two major parties representing ultra-Orthodox voters and a longstanding Netanyahu coalition ally, withheld a recommendation during consultations with President Isaac Herzog. On the other side, an Arab-led party endorsed Eisenkot on November 5, with the second Arab-led party expected to follow later in the day. Herzog was due to meet Netanyahu and Eisenkot separately at his Jerusalem residence on the evening of November 5, wrapping up party consultations he began on November 4, and has until November 11 to decide which of the two men gets the first chance to form a government. Netanyahu remains prime minister of a caretaker government until a new coalition is formed; if no candidate succeeds, another election must be held.
Israel's October 27 election ended in deadlock. Netanyahu's Likud won the most seats of any single party, 27 of the Knesset's 120, but his wider nationalist-religious coalition holds only 53 seats, short of a majority, and Eisenkot's anti-Netanyahu bloc likewise has no clear path to one. Parties that have said they will recommend Netanyahu include Likud, Shas, Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit; those backing Eisenkot include his own Yashar party, the Democrats, B'Yachad, Yisrael Beytenu and the Arab party Ra'am.
Source: Reuters
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于耶路撒冷的以色列议会大楼。10月27日大选后两大阵营都未过半，组阁推荐程序11月5日继续进行。照片：Tsvika Israeli／以色列政府新闻办公室，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Knesset building in Jerusalem. Neither bloc won a majority in the October 27 election, and coalition consultations continued on November 5. Photo by Tsvika Israeli / Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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