Israel's President Appoints Former Army Chief to Form New Government

In Israel, efforts to form a new government have intensified after the elections. President Herzog announced on Saturday that he was appointing former army chief Eisenkot to form a government. The biggest challenge before him now is to gather a majority by bringing different parties together. Eisenkot has three main options to form a government. Eisenkot has a first option to share power with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The second option is to form a government with the support of Arab parties, but many members of his coalition are opposed to it. The third option is to reach an agreement with ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties. These parties demand the continuation of exemption from military service for their community. Former army chief Eisenkot and his colleagues made military service a big issue for everyone in the election campaign. They want to end the exemption from military service of the ultra-Orthodox community for a long time. It will not be easy for them to reach an agreement with these parties. Eisenkot claims that his supporters have consistently voted for these parties.