President Isaac Herzog of Israel said he planned to choose on Sunday which party leader will get the first opportunity to form a government after elections last month produced no clear winner.
Mr. Herzog held talks this week with representatives of each of the parties that won enough votes to enter the 120-seat Parliament. The parties recommended the candidate that they support to form a government. The president, who has few formal powers, is supposed to give a mandate to the person that he believes has the best chance of forming a government.
The opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff, was endorsed by the most parties, giving him the support of 67 members of the new Parliament, or Knesset. That means Mr. Herzog is likely to give him the mandate to try and create a government, analysts say.
The coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finished second, with the parties that recommended him giving him 46 seats in the legislature. United Torah Judaism, an ultra-Orthodox party and longtime ally of Mr. Netanyahu, declined to endorse anyone.
On Thursday, Mr. Herzog said it was not “totally clear” who could form a government. He said he would hold “personal conversations” with some of the parties’ leaders and “turn over every rock” in an attempt to bring about the establishment of “stable and good government for the people in Israel.”
Negotiations between the parties could lead to a number of potential coalitions or none at all, in which case new elections could be held.
If Mr. Herzog selects Mr. Eisenkot, the opposition leader will likely need the backing of lawmakers from outside the Jewish-led parties in his coalition to secure enough votes. He could turn to Arab or ultra-Orthodox members of Parliament, or he could reach out to members of Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party.
If Mr. Netanyahu receives the mandate, he would likely need to win over some opposition lawmakers.
The election results had been expected to be inconclusive, but there were some surprises.
Likud outperformed many pre-election opinion polls to become the biggest party in Parliament. Still, it won fewer seats than in the last elections in 2022 and the party and its allies did not get enough to secure an outright majority of 61 seats.
Turnout by supporters of Israel’s Arab parties was extraordinarily high, propelling the parties to a record result.
Israel’s parliamentary system typically requires parties to find enough common ground to assemble a majority in Israel’s 120-seat Parliament.
The system has produced some unlikely alliances and, on occasion, unstable, short-lived governments: From 2019 to 2022, five elections were held in Israel.
In the coming days, the parties likely will enter into intense negotiations that could end in the establishment of a government or deadlock, making another election impossible to rule out.
Here are some possible outcomes for how the parties may align to form a government.
Scenario
A Jewish-Arab alliance
For Mr. Netanyahu’s opponents, securing a majority could depend on support from Arab parties. But that would be challenging politically for Mr. Eisenkot.
If Mr. Eisenkot were to work with both Arab parties — the Joint List, an alliance of three Arab-led factions, and Raam, a pragmatic Islamist party — he would have a significant majority in Parliament.
Mr. Eisenkot has rejected alliances with parties that do not support Israel’s Jewish character or the defeat of Hamas, the militant group in Gaza that led the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on the country. Many of Mr. Eisenkot’s voters could view an effort to partner with the Arab parties as breaking a campaign promise. That would be a potentially damaging for Mr. Eisenkot in a political landscape in which another election could be imminent.
Mr. Eisenkot also could form a minority government by leaving Arab lawmakers out of the coalition but securing their agreement to support it. The Joint List has said it would not join a coalition led by Mr. Eisenkot, but it has said it would be willing to back the Jewish-led opposition parties to oust Mr. Netanyahu from office.
But it is unclear how sustainable such an arrangement would be.
Scenario
A unity government
A unity government led by Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Eisenkot offers another path to a clear majority. But such an alliance could prove uneasy for both leaders.
Mr. Eisenkot’s campaign focused on the urgent need to unseat Mr. Netanyahu, whom he has called unfit to serve as prime minister. Mr. Netanyahu may not be keen to share power, or delegate significant authority, to his fierce rival.
One possible unity government could bring together the Likud party; Mr. Eisenkot’s Yashar party; Together, an alliance between two former prime ministers, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid; and Yisrael Beiteinu, a right-wing party led by Avigdor Liberman, who broke with Mr. Netanyahu and has since been a rival.
Final results gave such a bloc 66 seats, a clear governing majority, if a shaky one.
Scenario
An ultra-Orthodox-backed government
Mr. Eisenkot could seek the support of the two ultra-Orthodox parties, which are longtime allies of Mr. Netanyahu but have grievances against him. That might prove difficult, given that the opposition has long criticized military draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men.
But United Torah Judaism’s decision not to recommend Mr. Netanyahu could be a sign that it wants to work with Mr. Eisenkot to form a government and reach a compromise on legislation to conscript ultra-Orthodox citizens into the military.
Mr. Liberman has long refused to sit in a government with ultra-Orthodox lawmakers. On Friday, however, he suggested he was open to working with them, saying it was “permitted and desired” to be flexible on the issue of conscription.
“This is painful for me, and I know it’s painful for many others,” he said on social media. “But in light of the challenges we’re dealing with today, the national interest of the state of Israel and the people of Israel must stand above all other considerations.”
Samuel Granados and Josh Holder contributed reporting.
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