Israel's Joint List alliance of Arab-led parties has announced it will recommend opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot to form the next government, following last week's general election in which Arab-majority lists won a record 19 seats in the 120-seat Knesset.

"The Joint List announced today, Thursday, that it will inform the President of the State, Isaac Herzog, this evening of its decision to recommend that Gadi Eisenkot be tasked with forming the government," the alliance said in a statement.

Once the Joint List's 11 lawmakers formally submit their recommendation, Eisenkot is expected to secure the backing of 67 lawmakers, exceeding the 61-seat majority threshold required in the Knesset.

Earlier, Ra'am, a separate Arab-led party holding eight seats, also said it would recommend Eisenkot, further consolidating support for the opposition leader.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc holds 53 seats, but may not receive 53 endorsements. Degel HaTorah, which holds four of United Torah Judaism's seven seats, said it would recommend neither candidate.

The ultra-Orthodox faction broke with Netanyahu over his coalition's failure to pass legislation exempting Haredi men from military service, according to reports.

President Isaac Herzog has accepted the certified results of last week's parliamentary elections and begun consultations with party leaders on whom to task with forming the next government.

On Wednesday, Herzog said he had met representatives of the Religious Zionism and Zehut, Shas, and Yisrael Beytenu factions. He "received their recommendations regarding the identity of the Knesset member upon whom the task of forming the government should be assigned," Herzog said.

Herzog added that consultations would continue on Thursday.

Once the talks conclude, Herzog will choose the candidate he considers best placed to assemble a coalition — almost certainly Netanyahu or Eisenkot. He has several days to announce his decision, after which the nominee will have 28 days to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension.

If neither candidate succeeds, Israel would hold another election early next year.