Israel opens coalition talks after election leaves no bloc with 61 seats
What’s next: President Isaac Herzog will hear party recommendations before giving one candidate 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension, to build a government.
Israel’s president began two days of coalition consultations on Nov. 4 after an election left neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor rival Gadi Eisenkot with a parliamentary majority. President Isaac Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial but who chooses the first lawmaker to try to form a government, started with smaller parties and planned to meet Netanyahu’s Likud and Eisenkot’s Yashar last. Netanyahu’s bloc holds 53 seats and Eisenkot’s camp 48 in the 120-seat Knesset, short of the 61 needed to govern. Herzog has signaled he wants to avoid another election and may test support for a unity deal. Once he gives a mandate, the nominee gets 28 days to assemble a coalition, with a possible 14-day extension.