Israel’s President Isaac Herzog faces a difficult choice after Wednesday’s exit polls showed a tight race. While his role is largely ceremonial, he must now pick a candidate to form a government. He will meet party leaders to decide if the public wants change or another term for Benjamin Netanyahu.
The president has a largely ceremonial role, except after elections when it is his responsibility to pick a candidate for prime minister.
Isaac Herzog, Israel's president, has a largely ceremonial role -- except after national elections, when it is his responsibility to choose a potential prime minister and then tasks that person with trying to form a government.
Since Israelis vote for a party or parties rather than an individual, the person who might lead the country is selected after the ballots are counted and parliamentary seats are allocated to parties according to their proportion of the vote. The president -- who is separately elected by the Knesset, Israel's single-chamber legislature -- then convenes party leaders to hear their recommendations for prime minister before choosing someone to form a government.
While the president can choose the leader of the party that won the most votes, he can also select another leader who seems more likely to assemble a coalition that can secure a vote of confidence in the Knesset.
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In 2009, President Shimon Peres chose Benjamin Netanyahu -- the current prime minister -- even though his right-wing Likud party had won fewer votes than the centrist Kadima party.
Early exit polls on Wednesday suggest a tight race between the far-right coalition led by Mr. Netanyahu and the center-right opposition bloc that has called for change. The opposition bloc includes the Yashar party, led by Gadi Eisenkot. But Mr. Netanyahu's Likud party appears to have received the most votes, which means he will argue that he should be selected as prime minister.
Mr. Herzog, whose job is to stay above the political fray, is expected to face a difficult decision. He must discern whether the votes show that the majority of Israelis demanded change or if they indicated a preference for another Netanyahu government.
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