Netanyahu loses religious party’s support as rival tipped to form government

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish party long aligned with Benjamin Netanyahu declined on Thursday to recommend him to stay as Israel’s prime minister, as signs grew that rival Gadi Eisenkot will have the first chance to form a government. President Isaac Herzog was holding a second day of consultations with political parties after the October 27 election, in which neither Netanyahu — a polarising right-winger who has led Israel through three years of war — nor Eisenkot secured enough votes for a majority.

United Torah Judaism, which backed Netanyahu after the previous five elections, in its meeting with Herzog declined to recommend Netanyahu again as prime minister, although it also did not side with Eisenkot. The party informed Herzog “that it has decided not to recommend any member of Knesset to form a government,” the president’s office said in a statement, referring to the 120-member parliament in which United Torah Judaism has won seven seats.

The party, which represents ultra-Orthodox Jews of Ashkenazi origin, who mostly hail from or have roots in Europe, as well as Shas, which represents the same community but of Sephardic, or mostly Middle Eastern and North African descent, have both been backed by Netanyahu as they push to maintain the exemption from military service for religious students.

Netanyahu has preserved the exemption but stopped short of enshrining it in law, in the face of major resentment from many other Israelis as reservists serve multiple tours due to the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. “In whatever government is next formed, our immediate item is sorting out the status of Torah students,” United Torah Judaism lawmaker Isaac Pindrus said.

Eisenkot, a former military chief seeking to unite the centre and centre-right, has been adamant about closing exemptions to military service, with some of his opposition allies harshly criticising the ultra-Orthodox as self-serving. Observers say United Torah Judaism’s approach may be aimed more at punishing Netanyahu and showing that their votes cannot be taken for granted, while they could still serve in a government if he were to form one.

Herzog will meet representatives of the major parties later on Thursday before tasking one lawmaker with forming a government. He generally bases his decision on which person receives the most party recommendations, making it likely he will ask Eisenkot. Once Herzog gives the mandate, that lawmaker will have 28 days to form a government, with a potential 14-day extension.

If the lawmaker fails, Herzog will then task someone else. Netanyahu’s bloc — including United Torah Judaism — has 53 seats in the new parliament, as opposed to 48 for Eisenkot’s bloc. Israeli-Arab parties soared in strength on the back of anger over Netanyahu’s hard-right government, winning 19 seats. Eisenkot could form a government with the Arab parties but would risk losing support from some in the opposition.