Israeli President Isaac Herzog has given opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot the first opportunity to form a government, in a significant setback for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after elections last month left no bloc with a parliamentary majority.

Mr. Herzog announced on Saturday night that he would formally task Mr. Eisenkot, a former military chief and leader of the Yashar party, with assembling a governing coalition. The formal ceremony was scheduled for Sunday at the President's Residence in Jerusalem. Mr. Eisenkot will have 28 days to put a coalition together, with a possible extension of up to 14 days.

How the mandate was decided

Israel went to the polls on October 27, and neither side won the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-member Knesset. Mr. Netanyahu's Likud emerged as the single largest party with 27 seats, ahead of Mr. Eisenkot's Yashar with 21, but the prime minister's bloc lost its parliamentary majority.

In consultations with the president this week, factions representing 67 members of the Knesset recommended Mr. Eisenkot, while 46 backed Mr. Netanyahu. United Torah Judaism, with seven seats, recommended neither candidate. The 67 figure includes the Arab-led parties, which won a record 19 seats, and whose support could prove decisive in coalition talks.

"This is the time to establish a national emergency government. I will do anything possible to prove us worthy," Mr. Eisenkot wrote on social media after the announcement.

Netanyahu pushes for unity

Shortly before Mr. Herzog's announcement, Mr. Netanyahu released a video calling for a "national unity government" and warning against "hastily swearing in a government with terrorist supporters", an apparent reference to the Arab-led parties. He and his allies have repeatedly portrayed those parties as a threat to national security.

Mr. Eisenkot has indicated a willingness to work with the Arab-led parties under certain conditions, including their acceptance that Hamas is a terrorist organisation that must be dismantled. His party has also urged members of Likud to break with what it called "radical parties" in Mr. Netanyahu's camp.

The road to a coalition remains steep. Many parties have said they will refuse to sit in a government with the Arab-led lists, and Mr. Eisenkot must find 61 seats in a deeply divided parliament. If he fails, Mr. Herzog is expected to give Mr. Netanyahu the chance to try.

The political deadlock comes as Israel continues to reckon with the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks and the three years of wars in Gaza and beyond that followed. Mr. Eisenkot, 66, has pledged not to serve under Mr. Netanyahu in any rotation arrangement, and has framed his bid as an effort to establish stable leadership and avoid another round of elections.