"FRESH THINKING"Herzog, a mild-mannered lawyer whose political career was in the defunct left-wing Labour Party but is now officially nonpartisan, has said he wants to encourage "fresh thinking" and avoid a new election."It is important to exhaust every option, broaden the dialogue and explore every path that may advance the process," his office said in a statement, adding that he could hold additional rounds of consultations before his decision.Once Herzog tasks someone, they will have 28 days to form a government, with a potential 14-day extension.If no one succeeds, Herzog will give the mandate to someone else. If that too fails, a majority of lawmakers could come together to nominate someone within 21 days - or else Israel heads to new elections.It took Netanyahu, who at the time had a better showing by Likud, 58 days to form a government after the last election in November 2022.Israel held five elections between 2019 and 2022 after deadlocks.Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister who has been in power on and off for nearly two decades, enjoys a fervent supporter base but is despised by many other Israelis, including for his attempts to overhaul the judiciary.Netanyahu faces corruption charges and the risk of jail if he loses power and, with it, immunity.In the final days of the campaign, he repeatedly warned he would order a resumption of full-scale war on Iran alongside US President Donald Trump.Eisenkot on election night warned the military not to take orders to suit Netanyahu's "political needs", saying he has no mandate - even if he remains prime minister in a caretaker role.NO UNITYNetanyahu has called for a "broad national government" - with himself at top.Opposition leaders have insisted that is not on the cards, pointing to Netanyahu's character and his failure to prevent the October 7, 2023 attack, the deadliest day in Israel's history.In a strategy meeting Tuesday, Eisenkot and the other opposition leaders vowed to move quickly to form a government and oust Netanyahu -- but gave no indication how they would do so.Yousef Jabareen, the head of the largest Arab-majority party in the next parliament, told AFP this week that the opposition needed to accept "political reality" and team up to remove Netanyahu.Netanyahu has persistently warned Jewish Israelis that the opposition will work with Arab parties, which he accuses of backing Hamas.Leaders of Arab-Israeli parties have unanimously condemned the Oct 7 attack by Hamas without describing the Palestinian Islamist movement as a terror group.