After reports of Arab-party backing, Eizenkot is narrowly favored for Israel's premiership

Gadi Eizenkot is now narrowly the likeliest next prime minister of Israel, a toss-up, with Benjamin Netanyahu his main rival. Bets on Eizenkot becoming prime minister before 2028 jumped on Sunday after a report that Arab-led parties are expected to back him.

On Nov. 1, a senior Joint List official told Walla that the Joint List and Ra'am were expected to recommend Eizenkot to President Isaac Herzog as the next candidate to form a government, The Jerusalem Post reports. Those recommendations could improve his chance of receiving the mandate to try. They are not a coalition agreement, and they do not make him prime minister.

The move reverses much of a steep fall earlier in the week. Eizenkot was close to even odds or slightly better before the Oct. 27 vote, then dropped sharply on election day and fell further the next day, when an early partial count showed Netanyahu's Likud ahead. He regained part of that loss over the next three days and held steady on Saturday. On Sunday his odds rose gradually, then jumped in the final hours. Over the same period, Netanyahu fell from a toss-up to unlikely. Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman remain long shots.

The election left neither major bloc with a majority. Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats, Eizenkot's bloc 48 and Arab-led parties 19, short of the 61 needed to govern. Likud took 27 seats and Eizenkot's Yashar party 21.

Eizenkot's path remains complicated. Lieberman has ruled out serving in a government with Arab parties or one that depends on their support. On Oct. 31, Eizenkot said lawmakers who accept his four principles could be potential partners. They include universal national service and dismantling Hamas's military and governing power.

The next steps are set. Official results are due to be presented to Herzog on Nov. 4, when he is expected to begin consulting party representatives. The new Knesset is scheduled to be sworn in on Nov. 10. Herzog must assign the task of forming a government within seven days of the results' publication. The nominee then has 28 days, which can be extended by 14.

The bets pay out only if Eizenkot is officially appointed and sworn in as prime minister. Caretaker or interim service does not count.