Jerusalem (AFP) – Israel’s president announced on Saturday he would task Gadi Eisenkot with forming the next government following last week’s election, in what Netanyahu’s rivals see as a first step to remove the country’s longest-serving prime minister.

The opposition bloc led by Eisenkot, a former military chief and political newcomer who has tried to appeal to secular and liberal Israelis, has opened the door to a once improbable alliance with ultra-Orthodox Jews, which could give it the numbers to form a coalition.

President Isaac Herzog said that after consultations with all parties during the week, he would grant Eisenkot the first chance to form a government after the October 27 election, in which neither side secured a majority in a country deeply polarised by Netanyahu’s hard-right rule and worn down by three years of war.

The formal appointment would take place in an official ceremony on Sunday at the president’s residence in Jerusalem, Herzog’s office said.

Eisenkot was recommended by parties representing 67 lawmakers as opposed to 46 for Netanyahu’s bloc.

But the recommendations for Eisenkot included members of Israel’s Arab minority – whose seat haul soared in the election on the back of anger against Netanyahu – and right-leaning segments of the opposition oppose relying on Arab votes.

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