President says he will make a decision on Sunday about who should try to build a government as Netanyahu rival is endorsed by 67 lawmakers

Gadi Eisenkot, the main rival to Benjamin Netanyahu, secured endorsements on Thursday from a majority of lawmakers to try to form a government but Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said it was still unclear who could break the deadlock and that he would decide on Sunday which of the two men should try first.

Of the Knesset’s 120 elected lawmakers, 67 had ​endorsed Eisenkot through several days of talks with Herzog, while 46 endorsed Netanyahu. Herzog said on Thursday that while the “results ‌of the consultations may appear clear”, there were “mutual vetoes between the blocs and within the blocs themselves” that make it difficult to say who has the ‌best shot to form a government.