Israeli President Urges Parties to Form Government, Avoid New Elections

Israeli President Isaac Herzog called on the parties and lists that won seats in the 26th Knesset elections to shoulder their political responsibilities and negotiate with openness to form a government, emphasizing the need to exert all efforts to prevent new elections. Herzog made these remarks on Wednesday during a meeting with the "Let's Exchange a Word" initiative at the presidential residence. He praised the high voter turnout in the elections, viewing it as a sign of the Israeli public's commitment to democracy, noting that the participation rate was the highest in decades.

Herzog stressed the importance of not repeating the electoral experience, stating, "We must do everything in our power, especially after yesterday, to avoid another election." He urged representatives of the parties who will visit the presidential residence to be open and ready for dialogue. The president explained that he will receive the official results next week from Supreme Court Justice and Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Noam Sohlberg, before commencing official consultations with the representatives of the winning parties and lists.

"I will begin the consultation process, listen to each party individually, and we will ask questions and hold discussions," Herzog said, acknowledging the complex political landscape resulting from the elections. His call comes after the counting of 4,875,751 ordinary ballots, with double envelopes still pending.

According to the current results, Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party leads with 26 seats, followed by Gadi Eisenkot's Yesh Atid party with 21 seats. The Joint List and the Together party each secured 12 seats, while the Democrats received 8 seats. Israel Beiteinu, the United Arab List (Ra'am), Yahadut HaTorah, Otzma Yehudit, and Shas each obtained 7 seats, and the Religious Zionism and Identity list garnered 6 seats.

Neither the Netanyahu bloc, with 53 seats, nor the bloc led by Eisenkot, with 48 seats, has a clear majority to form a government independently. The Arab parties collectively hold 19 seats. These results make Herzog's upcoming consultations a crucial step in determining the direction of coalition negotiations and the composition of the next government.