Israel's October 27 national ballot ended with no clear winner. Neither Prime Minister Netanyahu nor Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief, secured a clear path to a majority in parliament.
That has set up a tough task for President Isaac Herzog, whose mostly ceremonial role comes with the post-election responsibility of picking a candidate he believes has the best chance to form a coalition in a deeply divided country.
Herzog held marathon talks with elected factions on Wednesday and Thursday, during which 67 of parliament's 120 elected lawmakers endorsed Eisenkot, while 46 endorsed Netanyahu.
In televised remarks at the end of the talks, Herzog said while the "results of the consultations may appear clear", there were "mutual vetoes between the blocs and within the blocs themselves" that make it difficult to say who has the best shot to form a government.
Herzog said he would make a pick on Sunday, and would hold "personal talks with some of the party leaders" over the Israeli weekend, which runs Friday to Saturday.
Once nominated by Herzog, the candidate will have 28 days to try to forge a government, with a possible 14-day extension.
Netanyahu will remain prime minister in a caretaker government until a new coalition is formed, or through another election which must be held if no candidate succeeds.
Netanyahu's Likud won the most seats of any single party with 27 in the 120-seat Knesset, but Netanyahu's wider religious-nationalist coalition garnered only 53 in total.
That was still better than Eisenkot's anti-Netanyahu coalition spanning four centre-left to right-wing Jewish-led parties, which won just 48 seats despite pre-election polls pointing to a close race. Two parties representing Israel's Arab minority won an unprecedented 19 seats.
In a setback for the prime minister on Thursday, United Torah Judaism, one of two major parties representing ultra-Orthodox Jewish voters and a longstanding Netanyahu coalition ally, declined to recommend any candidate to form a government during talks with Herzog.
And while Eisenkot, like Netanyahu, has so far ruled out forming a government with Israel's two Arab-led parties, both factions endorsed Eisenkot, giving him backing from a comfortable majority of lawmakers.
Netanyahu, at risk of losing power, has seized on an investigation by election officials into possible vote tampering to cast doubt on the results, accusing Arab-led parties of stealing the vote. Critics accuse Netanyahu and his partners of trying to undermine the results, which he denies.
Israel's Central Election Committee on Wednesday said the election's integrity had not been compromised. The head of the committee, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, has called on Israel's elected officials to protect public trust, rather than shake it.
"This is a real danger. One of the foundations of democracy is the peaceful transfer of power," Sohlberg told Herzog at his residence on Wednesday. High voter turnout, including among the Arab minority, was a blessing, he said.
Netanyahu's allies on the far-right, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have called for the immediate arrest and interrogation of Arab party leaders.
with DPA
