Israel's 120-member new parliament is set to be sworn in today amid fresh political manoeuvring to form a government, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition faces the prospect of losing its majority.
Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot has already begun efforts to form a coalition government.
President Isaac Herzog will address the inaugural session of the new parliament at 4PM local time on Tuesday (November 10).
Neither Netanyahu's coalition nor the opposition bloc has secured an outright majority in the new parliament.
Earlier, President Herzog assigned Eisenkot the initial mandate to form a government, giving him 28 days to complete the task. The deadline can be extended by another 14 days if necessary.
Meanwhile, negotiations over the distribution of key parliamentary positions have also progressed within the opposition alliance. Eisenkot said that following discussions with leaders of his political bloc, an agreement had been reached to appoint his party colleague Matan Kahana as the next Speaker of the Knesset.
According to Al Jazeera, the opening of the new parliament has raised expectations that the political calculations surrounding government formation in Israel will become clearer.
- MaT