President calls on all parties to help avoid new election after Netanyahu and Eisenkot blocs fell short of majority

Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, was due to meet Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief political rival, Gadi Eisenkot, on Thursday with less than a week left before he decides which of the two men should first try to form a government.

A bitterly contested election last month, seen by many observers as one of the most consequential for Israel in many decades, ended with neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot, a former military general and chief of staff, securing a clear pathway to power.

Move comes after attorney general blocks Shin Bet call to interrogate politicians from Palestinian-led parties

Israel’s election commission on Wednesday confirmed the final results of last week’s vote that stripped Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition of its governing majority, rejecting claims of mass fraud promoted by the prime minister.

The main challenger, Gadi Eisenkot, said Netanyahu had launched a “pogrom against democracy” in attempting to hold on to power by discrediting valid votes and weaponising security forces against parties led by Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Projections show votes for Palestinian parties surged in a tight contest that drew highest turnout in decades

• Israel election: what we know so far

• Analysis: Rise of Palestinian parties in Knesset will redraw Israel’s political landscape

Israel’s future hung in the balance on Wednesday as it became clear that Benjamin Netanyahu had lost his governing majority. His political fate now depends on whether opposition Jewish parties are prepared to forge a common front with Palestinian parties, whose support surged in Tuesday’s elections.

The leader of the Jewish opposition bloc, the retired general Gadi Eisenkot, appeared to rule out such a broad coalition in a premature declaration of victory overnight for what he called a “Zionist majority”.