Israel set to announce new PM, Eisenkot's coalition has majority support

Israeli President Isaac Herzog is preparing to announce the name of the country's new prime minister. Forming a government in Israel requires the support of 61 members of parliament.

Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot's coalition is reported to have the support of 67 lawmakers from six parties, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has the backing of only 46 lawmakers. In the recent election, however, neither leader won enough of a majority to form a government alone.

Herzog held discussions with leaders of all parties represented in parliament on Thursday. He said that because of disagreements and objections between political factions on many issues, he could not decide on government formation based solely on lawmakers' recommendations.

No party has ever won an outright majority in Israel's history, so the country has always had coalition governments.

Meanwhile, a hardline leader from the opposition camp has shown flexibility on his longstanding demand that military service be made mandatory for ultra-orthodox Jews, seen as an attempt to build a coalition that could remove Netanyahu. Dissatisfaction with Netanyahu's far-right government has led the Israeli-Arab community to back the opposition. Israeli society remains deeply divided over Netanyahu and weary after three years of war.