Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Justice Noam Sohlberg (L), hands the official results of Israel's general election to Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, Nov. 4, 2026.
An ultra-Orthodox Jewish party long aligned with Benjamin Netanyahu declined on Nov. 5 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 Oct. 27 election, in which neither Netanyahu, a polarizing 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, 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 center and center-right, has been adamant about closing exemptions to military service, with some of his opposition allies harshly criticizing the ultra-Orthodox as self-serving.
Herzog will meet representatives of the major parties later on Nov. 5 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.
