JERUSALEM — Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Saturday night handed opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot the first opportunity to form a governing coalition, a setback for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following elections on Oct. 27 that left neither man with a clear majority. Eisenkot, a former military chief who leads the Yashar ("Straight") party, ran as the main challenger to Netanyahu at the head of a bloc of parties seeking to unseat Israel's longest-serving premier. In marathon consultations with the president this week, representatives from most of Israel's main parties recommended that Eisenkot be given the mandate to assemble a government. The announcement, which had been expected on Sunday, came shortly after Netanyahu issued a video statement calling for a "national unity government" and warning against "hastily swearing in a government with terrorist supporters" — an apparent reference to Arab-led parties. Netanyahu and his allies have repeatedly cast the Arab-led parties as a threat to national security. Eisenkot has signaled a willingness to partner with them under certain conditions, including recognizing Hamas as a terrorist organization that must be destroyed. Eisenkot's party fired back at the prime minister's video in a statement posted on X, urging Likud members to disavow their alliance with "radical parties" — an apparent reference to the more extreme elements of Netanyahu's religious-nationalist base. The statement said Eisenkot would include only parties and parliament members who support its principles, including recognizing Hamas as a terrorist organization. The mandate now puts Eisenkot at the center of Israel's political maneuvering, with the former general facing the difficult task of stitching together a coalition from a fractured parliament. Netanyahu, meanwhile, is left to press for a unity arrangement or watch from the opposition as his rival attempts to build a government without him. Herzog's decision followed days of consultations with party representatives, the traditional step before Israel's president taps a candidate to form a government. The move reflects the recommendations of most of the country's main parties, even as the vote itself produced no decisive winner.