‘Engage with open heart to avoid fresh election,’ Israel’s President Isaac Herzog tells parties

Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday urged the country’s political parties to begin negotiations on forming a new government with an “open heart,” as he prepares to begin consultations with the factions elected to the 26th Knesset this coming Wednesday on a path forward after an inconclusive election result. “Come to listen and to be heard, to share ideas, and to find creative solutions to prevent another round of elections,” he said.

President Herzog urged Israel’s party leaders to “stop climbing trees, and face the reality” of the election results, as rival blocs have started setting out their positions on the formation of the next government.

“This coming Wednesday, I will receive the official election results from the Central Elections Committee chairman… Justice Noam Sohlberg,” Herzog said at a state memorial ceremony for Israel’s first president, Chaim Weizmann.

“Afterward, I will begin consultations at the President’s Residence. The President’s Residence will be wide open to all factions and parties.”

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Herzog said he hoped the leaders would come with an “open mind,” and be ready to “find creative solutions to prevent another election,”

“During an election campaign, candidates naturally and predictably climb to lofty positions,” said Herzog, adding, “But the elections are over. The election results are a fact. They are a reality. And now is the time to call on all our leaders to stop climbing and face this reality. This week at the President’s Residence, we will try to put up ladders, to enable the leaders to face reality, in a measured and careful manner.”

The final election results put Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc in the lead with 53 seats and the Jewish-led anti-Netanyahu parties at 48, leaving neither with enough seats to form a government.

The Arab-led Joint List and Ra’am gained a record 19 seats, making them potential key players in government formation.

Netanyahu’s opponents together hold 67 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, but Yashar, B’Yachad and Yisrael Beytenu said previously that they would not sit in a coalition with the Arab, non-Zionist factions.

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Oppn leaders to oust Likud’s Knesset Speaker before forming govt: Report

The opposition bloc has agreed on its first move in the new Knesset, replacing Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana of the Likud, despite the fact that it has not yet been decided who will form the next government, according to local news reports.

Since the speaker controls the parliamentary agenda, the move would give the camp opposed to PM Netanyahu sway over votes, legislation, and committee appointments, even if Netanyahu remains in office as head of a caretaker government.

The speaker is elected in an open vote, one of a new Knesset’s first orders of business. To oust Ohana, the opposition bloc will need a majority of the Knesset’s 120 members behind a single candidate, possibly with support from the Arab parties.

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Netanyahu must not be allowed to lead Israel through another Iran war: Golan

Democrats party leader Yair Golan said in a social media post on Sunday that Netanyahu does not have the public’s trust and should not be permitted to lead the country through another war with Iran.

“Gadi Eisenkot, Avigdor Lieberman, Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid, and I know the security system very well,” Golan wrote, referring to the other leaders in opposition bloc. “We have experience, ability, and deep familiarity with the system. We are committed to working together for Israel’s security.”

‘Don’t join left-wing coalition,’ Ben-Gvir warns Haredi parties

National Security Minister and Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir warned ultra-Orthodox parties against joining a left-wing government, accusing opposition leaders of attempting to entice Haredi politicians with promises to abandon military conscription demands in exchange for their support.

“We are all already hearing the sweet talk coming from the left-wing camp, promising to exempt you from military service simply so that you will help them form a government. It is unbelievable how these hypocrites built their entire campaign on hatred toward you, and now, all of a sudden, they are explaining to everyone that you are not actually needed in the army at all,” he wrote.