Bennett Says Together Will Recommend Eisenkot to Form the Government

Naftali Bennett announced on November 1 that the Together faction will recommend Gadi Eisenkot to President Isaac Herzog as the candidate to form Israel’s next government. Bennett said he had made the decision in keeping with his campaign commitment to respect the voters’ choice. “I promised to respect the voters’ decision,” Bennett wrote in his announcement. He said the faction would ask the president to give Eisenkot the task of forming a government and ended with a message wishing him success. The announcement states Together’s intended recommendation ahead of the president’s consultations with the elected factions. Earlier Sunday, Herzog said he would receive the official election results on Wednesday, November 4, from Central Elections Committee chairman and Supreme Court Deputy President Noam Sohlberg. Speaking at the state memorial for Chaim Weizmann in Rehovot, the president called for flexibility and creative solutions to prevent another election. On Sunday evening, President’s Residence director-general Eyal Shviki sent invitations to representatives of all factions elected to the 26th Knesset. Consultations will begin Wednesday at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, before Herzog assigns an MK to form the next government. Herzog instructed that the meetings be broadcast live. A separate schedule will set out the factions’ arrival times, and a media center will allow faction leaders to make statements after their meetings.