President of Israel will consult parties to avoid new elections

O President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, today confirmed that consultations with the parties represented in Parliament will begin this week to discuss the political situation after the Tuesday elections and to seek agreements to avoid further suffrage.

The Head of State explained that he will receive, next Wednesday, the official results of the elections at the hands of the President of the Central Electoral Commission, Noam Sohkberg, and from that moment will begin a round of contacts in the Presidential Residence, whose doors, he assured, will be open to all parliamentary parties and groups.

“ I hope that the representatives will come with an open mind and with an open heart,” Herzog said, who urged the participants to attend meetings ready to listen, exchange proposals and seek creative solutions that prevent the need for further elections in Israel.

The President stressed that the election campaign has come to an end and that its results are a reality that leaders need to accept.

“ The time has come to ask all our leaders to (...) face this reality”, he said, using the metaphor of a ladder to describe the role of consultations: “We will try to put stairs so that our leaders can go down and face this reality in a thoughtful and prudent way.”.

Herzog's statements appear after the announcement of the final outcome of Tuesday's elections in Israel.

The ballot confirmed the Likud, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as the most voted force, but both his bloc and the opposition — led by Gadi Eisenkot — were far removed from the mark of 61 seats in the Knesset (Israeli Parliament).

In view of this, days, or perhaps weeks, of negotiations are foreseen in an attempt to prevent the Israelis from returning to the polls. In this context, last Thursday, the opposing bloc began contacts to coordinate.