Gadi Eisenkot has 28 days to put together a coalition after Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, formally tasked the opposition leader with forming the next government on 8 November, according to a wire report carried by NewsDrum.
NewsDrum reports that 67 MPs recommended Eisenkot and 46 recommended Benjamin Netanyahu. Seven United Torah Judaism MPs backed neither.
Netanyahu's bloc won more seats in the 27 October election, but Eisenkot gathered more recommendations in the Knesset, Yahoo News reports.
Netanyahu is calling for a national unity government made up of Likud and Eisenkot, according to NewsDrum.
The outcome matters for decisions on Iran. AFP has reported that Eisenkot warned the military that Netanyahu has no mandate and that it should not go to war for his 'political needs'.