-Former military chief has a few pathways to power
-Eisenkot has 28 days to try to form government with potential for 14-day extension
-He is son of Moroccan immigrants
Nov 7 (Reuters) - Israel's president on Saturday chose Gadi Eisenkot, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's strongest rival, to try to form a new government following a deadlocked election that left neither man with a clear path to power.
Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, is fighting to stay in office after his religious-nationalist coalition lost its majority in an October 27 election but still emerged as the largest bloc in parliament.
Eisenkot, a former military chief, has declined to join forces with Arab parties, with whose support he would have a majority of seats in parliament. But Arab leaders, incensed by what they view as the racist policies of Netanyahu and his far-right allies, still nominated Eisenkot to try to form a government first — giving him the most endorsements.
"President Herzog has invited Gadi Eisenkot to the President’s Residence, where he will be tasked with forming the government tomorrow," said the spokesperson of President Isaac Herzog, whose largely ceremonial role involves nominating a candidate to form a coalition after elections.
I was more focusing on what "Arab" means to Israel and that the use of the terminology by Israel is to delete Palestinian identity.
And Israelis definitely don't consider Mizrahi Jews as Arabs, or that Mizrahis consider themselves as Arab. If anything, the most right-wing in Israel have been Mizrahim (Ben Gvir). They definitely didn't vote for Raam.
While there may have been non-Palestinians to vote for Palestinian parties, it doesn't stop the parties from being representative of the Palestinian demographic and therefore a "Palestinian party" versus a generalized "Arab party'.