Israel's president has chosen Gadi Eisenkot, the leader of the Yashar party, to try to form a new government, according to Israeli media reports cited by The Guardian. The outlet reported that the Knesset has been "deadlocked" since last month's election, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition lost its majority.
CBS News reported that Eisenkot, a former military chief, ran against Netanyahu in the election, and that neither man won a clear majority. Its report presented the president's decision as a direct development, under a headline stating that Israel's president had tapped Eisenkot to form a government.
NPR reported that Eisenkot ran as the main rival to Netanyahu, but that neither candidate won enough support to "command a majority." According to NPR, Israel's main parties have recommended that Eisenkot form a new government. The NPR story was written by Tara Neill.
The accounts differ in how they describe the president's decision. CBS News and NPR state it in their headlines, while The Guardian attributes the choice to Israeli media reports. The Guardian's summary also says that President Isaac Herzog informed a party leader of the decision, but the portion of that report available for this story is incomplete, so the sources do not give full details of that notification.
The available summaries do not say how much time Eisenkot will have to form a government or what steps will follow. They also do not identify a location for the events described, and they do not specify the exact timing of the president's announcement beyond the publication dates of the reports.
Sources: CBS News: Israel's president taps opposition candidate Eisenkot to form a government; The Guardian: Israel’s president picks Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot to form government; NPR: Israel's president taps opposition candidate, not Netanyahu, to form a government.