An ultra-Orthodox party declined to recommend Benjamin Netanyahu to form the next government during consultations with president Isaac Herzog but did not endorse Gadi Eisenkot either. (EPA Images pic)JERUSALEM: Israel's opposition saw a new path Friday to oust prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as one of its leaders backtracked on demands that ultra-Orthodox Jews serve in the military, opening the door to a once improbable alliance with the community.
Neither Netanyahu nor opposition chief Gadi Eisenkot reached a majority in the Oct 27 election, with Israeli society highly polarised over Netanyahu and worn down by three years of war.
Eisenkot, a former military commander whose campaign sought to appeal to secular and liberal Israelis, could form a government with Israeli-Arabs, whose seat count soared on anger over Netanyahu's far-right government.
