The knot cannot be untied in Israel. The parliamentary majority turned their backs on Netanyahu, all eyes are on Sunday

The candidate appointed by President Herzog will be given 28 days to form a government, which can be extended by 14 days if necessary.

Netanyahu will continue to serve as prime minister in the interim government until a new coalition is formed or until a possible new election is held if no candidate can reach an agreement.

In the October 27 elections, Netanyahu's party, Likud, won 27 seats and became the only party with the most seats in the 120-seat parliament.

On the other hand, Netanyahu's religious-nationalist bloc was left with only 53 seats in total.

The anti-Netanyahu bloc, consisting of four centre-left and right-wing Jewish parties led by Eisenkot, remained at 48 MPs, although pre-election polls predicted a neck-and-neck race.

Two parties representing Israel's Arab minority gained 19 seats in the elections, reaching an unprecedented power of representation.

The United Torah Judaism party, one of the two main parties representing ultra-Orthodox Jewish voters and one of Netanyahu's long-established coalition partners, did not propose any candidates in its talks with Herzog in Thursday's talks.

Although Eisenkot, like Netanyahu, has so far rejected the possibility of forming a joint government with Arab parties, the two Arab parties in the parliament used their advice in favor of Eisenkot and ensured that the former chief of staff received the support of the majority of MPs.