Leaders of Israel's main Jewish opposition parties agreed on Tuesday to back former military chief Gadi Eisenkot as the next prime minister, but remained divided over how to form a majority government.
In their first joint meeting since last week's election, the leaders pledged to act swiftly to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and agreed to recommend Eisenkot to President Isaac Herzog, who, under Israeli law, would launch on Wednesday a consultation process with party leaders before choosing a lawmaker to form the next government.
"The party leaders are united and will act immediately to replace the October 7 government with a national emergency government and realize the clear majority in the parliament," they said in a joint statement.
"The party leaders coordinated plans and steps to exercise the parliamentary majority immediately, in the first days of the new parliament," the joint statement said.
Lawmakers in Eisenkot's bloc said in recent days that they would move to replace the parliamentary speaker and repeal laws enacted under Netanyahu's judicial overhaul.
The bloc holds only 48 seats in the 120-member parliament, against 53 for Netanyahu's bloc. The two Arab parties, which have said they would back any coalition excluding Netanyahu, won 19 seats, giving the opposition a combined majority of 67.
While one opposition leader, Yair Golan from the party The Democrats, supports cooperation with the Arab parties, the others have ruled it out, complicating efforts to form a government.
Israeli opposition leaders back former army chief in bid to oust Netanyahu
