Israel President Asks Gadi Eisenkot to Form Government

On Saturday evening, Israeli President Isaac Herzog made a decision. He asked Gadi Eisenkot to try to form a new government. Eisenkot leads the group that is against the government.

Israel held an election for its parliament, the Knesset, on October 27. No group had more than half of the seats.

A bloc is a group of parties that work together. Eisenkot's bloc has four parties. It won 48 of the 120 seats. The bloc of Benjamin Netanyahu won 53 seats.

Arab parties won 19 seats. This had never happened before. In talks with the president, both Arab party lists backed Eisenkot.

Eisenkot is 66 years old. He was chief of the General Staff of the Israeli army. He held this job from 2015 to 2019.

Eisenkot criticises attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians. He called recent attacks 'Jewish terror'. He said the Netanyahu government helped to encourage those attacks.

In the 2006 war with Hezbollah, Eisenkot used the Dahiya doctrine, a plan for war. This plan uses very strong force against buildings and services that ordinary people use. It is used in areas that Hezbollah controls.

A ceremony to name Eisenkot is planned for Sunday. It will be at the president's home in Jerusalem.