Herzog to meet MKs next week over who will form next government

Isaac Herzog will announce by November 16 who he will task with forming a government.

By David Hellerman, United with Israel

President Isaac Herzog’s office announced on Wednesday he will begin holding meetings with leaders of each of the parties in the Knesset next week to determine who has the best chance of forming a government.

The election results are to be certified and presented to Herzog on Wednesday. On the next day, the President will begin a series of consultations with the leaders of all the parties.

Herzog will announce by November 16 who he will task with forming a government. That individual will then have 28 days put together a governing coalition and present it to the Knesset for approval. A 14-day extension is customarily available if more time is needed.

With 86 percent of the votes counted, the right-wing bloc led by Benjamin Netanyahu was forecast to win 65 seats in the 120-seat Knesset.

So far, the breakdown of seats points to Likud being the largest party with 32 seats followed by Yesh Atid with 24.

As for the other members of the right-wing bloc, Religious Zionism is expected to take 14 seats, while Shas and United Torah Judaism take 11 and eight respectively.

The center-left parties apparently moving to the opposition are the National Union party (12 seats), and the Yisrael Beiteinu, Hadash-Taal, and United Arab List with five seats each and Labor with four.

The right-wing Habayit Hayehudi, the left-wing Meretz and the Arab Balad parties have so far not crossed the threshold of 3.25 percent of the votes necessary to secure a place in the Knesset.