Golan's Democrats Complete the Opposition's Backing of Eisenkot as Herzog Prepares Wednesday Consultations

Joint List leader Ahmad Tibi has said his party will recommend an anti-Netanyahu Zionist candidate, presumably Eisenkot, and has pledged outside support for an alternative government, according to the Times of Israel. Ra'am is also expected to recommend Eisenkot. If every one of those recommendations lands, Eisenkot would walk into the President's Residence with 67 names against Netanyahu's 53, even though his own coalition would still be 13 seats short of a majority without the Arab parties inside it.

What is Netanyahu offering?

Unity, on his terms. Asked in a closed-door meeting about a unity government, Netanyahu said "We are examining everything," the Jewish Chronicle reported, adding that he was not completely ruling out any option. Likud whip Ofir Katz was blunter about the one option that matters to Eisenkot, saying the party opposes a rotation of the premiership after a result that, in Likud's reading, showed high confidence in it.

The Jewish Chronicle also reported that Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg, appearing with Shin Bet director David Zini, said the election for the 26th Knesset was conducted properly and that the current evidence could not overturn the overall result. Likud has alleged foreign money bought votes for the Arab parties, which those parties deny; a Likud spokesperson said a black cloud hangs over the results until the investigation is complete. Sohlberg's statement means the result goes to Herzog as scheduled.

What happens at the President's Residence on Wednesday?

Herzog receives the official results from Sohlberg on Wednesday and then opens consultations with every faction, asking each whom it recommends. He has seven days to hand someone the mandate. The chosen candidate gets 28 days, extendable by 14, to assemble a coalition; if that fails a second candidate gets 28 days, and if that fails too, 61 lawmakers can nominate a third before parliament is dissolved. The new Knesset is sworn in on 10 November.

Herzog has already told the party leaders what he wants. Speaking on Sunday at a memorial for Chaim Weizmann, he urged them to stop climbing trees and face the reality of the results, said his residence would try to put up ladders, and asked for open minds and creative solutions to prevent another election. The ladders have to reach a long way. Yashar, B'Yachad and Yisrael Beytenu say they will not sit with the Arab lists, Netanyahu says he will not depend on them either, and Likud rejects rotation. Bennett's commitment to Eisenkot, the Times of Israel noted, has not been stated unequivocally in public. Those positions, and whether the Arab lists' recommendations arrive in writing, are what Wednesday will test.