All Arab-led parties endorsed opposition bloc leader Eisenkot to form the next government during consultations with President Herzog on Thursday.
Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen said his party had decided to back Eisenkot in the hope of helping "to oust the Netanyahu-Ben-Gvir-Smotrich government" and improve the lives of all Israelis, particularly "Arab citizens, whose lives the last government made miserable in almost every way."
The endorsements bring Eisenkot's tally to 67 lawmakers, giving him the backing of a majority of Knesset members. Herzog is therefore expected to task him with forming the next government.
Meanwhile, the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party broke with Netanyahu on Thursday, telling Herzog it would not endorse any candidate. The decision left Netanyahu with the backing of just 46 lawmakers, compared with Eisenkot's 67.
"Our main task is to secure the status of Torah students through legislation without sanctions," party leader Yitzhak Goldknopf said during the consultations, signaling his determination to preserve military service exemptions for draft-age Haredi men.
There is now an opportunity not only to repair the damage of the last four years, but to change the rules of the game that have led to the current situation. I call on all the Knesset members to set aside their disputes for a moment and act together. There is no need to wait for a new government to be formed in order to begin rebuilding our democracy. We have a Knesset. It's time it started to fulfill its role, writes Yael German
