Iranian citizens expect Israel’s Iran policy to remain unchanged

Iranians see no prospects of change to Israel's policy over Tehran even under a new Israeli government.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Saturday night that he was giving opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot the first opportunity to form a governing coalition following elections on Oct. 27.

Eisenkot, a former military chief who ran as the main challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is now a step closer to ousting Israel’s longest-serving premier.

"In practice there will be no change in their ominous intention, it means that their enmity will more or less continue." 26-year-old resident of Tehran Ali Soroush said on Sunday,

His view was shared by others in the Iranian capital, who think that despite a possible change of the makeup of the Israeli government, its policy over the Islamic Republic will remain the same.

"With the guy we know as Bibi (Benjamin Netanyahu) or anybody else, will unlikely make any change in future," said 46-year-old Arash Kamali.

Israel and the United States struck Iran in February, starting the war against Tehran. Since then, Netanyahu and his government have insisted that they have to stop Iran from trying to acquire nuclear weapons, which they said, represents a threat to their countries.

Netanyahu and his allies lost their majority in parliament in last month's elections. But the bloc led by Eisenkot also didn’t win a majority. That left Arab-led parties, which made historic gains, as potential but politically fraught kingmakers.

An Arab party has been part of a governing coalition just once in Israel's history. Forming such an alliance could be especially divisive for Eisenkot after more than three years of war in Gaza.

Eisenkot will officially receive the mandate to build a coalition during a ceremony on Sunday afternoon.

He will then have up to 28 days to form a coalition, with a possible two-week extension from the president. If he is unable to form a government, Netanyahu could then be given a chance to put together a coalition. If Netanyahu is also unable to do so, the country will return to elections early next spring.