Israel's president to begin consultations with parties after election deadlock

Israel’s president to start talks with parties after election stalemate

President Isaac Herzog received the official results from the Central Election Committee on Wednesday morning

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog is set to begin consultations with political parties over who should be asked to form a new coalition government, after he received the official results of last week’s general election, which he said produced no clear winner.

Herzog told party leaders that “not every commitment and promise can be fulfilled” if they want to avoid another election.

Neither the bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor that of his rival Gadi Eisenkot won a majority in parliament.

Earlier, election officials said there was no evidence of irregularities and that unsubstantiated allegations from Netanyahu’s camp that Arab-led parties had “stolen” the election did not warrant delaying certification of the results.

The Shin Bet security service is investigating claims of foreign interference in the election, but the head of the Central Elections Committee said they would not fundamentally alter the outcome.

In the election on 27 October, Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies won 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. Eisenkot’s centrist Yashar party and three other Jewish opposition parties in his bloc won 48.

Two Arab-led alliances, the United Arab List and the Joint List, together won an unprecedented 19 seats after a surge in turnout among Arab voters.

That makes them possible kingmakers. However, all but one of the Jewish parties had pledged before the vote not to join with them in forming a government.

Israel’s president has a largely ceremonial role, but after an election the president must invite a Knesset member to try to form a government. That person is given 28 days to do so, with a possible 14-day extension.

The president has broad discretion to choose whoever they believe has the best chance of assembling a coalition. They do not have to select the leader of the party with the most seats.

On Wednesday morning, Herzog was handed the official results by Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg at a ceremony in Jerusalem.

“In recent days, we have heard voices trying to cast doubt on the election results and to undermine their legitimacy. This is a real danger,” Sohlberg said.

“One of the foundations of democracy is the ability to have a peaceful transfer of power. This stems from the understanding that the will of the electorate obligates us all.”

Herzog said he would begin the consultation process on Wednesday evening.

“In order to prevent another round of elections and to build a stable and good government here for the people of Israel, I expect the factions and their representatives to understand that, in the current reality, not every commitment and promise can be fulfilled,” he said.

The president also voiced confidence in the Shin Bet’s ability to investigate the foreign interference allegations and urged patience.

But he warned that Arab Israelis — who make up about one fifth of the population and often describe themselves as Palestinian citizens of Israel — “must not be smeared”.

“I condemn the coarseness and racist expressions that we have heard recently. There is no place for them toward any community in Israel,” he said.

Earlier, Sohlberg told a Central Elections Committee meeting that Shin Bet intelligence appeared to indicate a “widespread phenomenon involving the influx of substantial funds into Israel from foreign states”, some of them hostile.

He said further investigation was needed to “connect the dots and determine the scale of the phenomenon with a high degree of certainty”.

Last week, Israeli media reported that the committee had been presented with a claim that Qatar had supplied funding intended to boost voter turnout in Arab communities. Qatar’s foreign ministry said it categorically denied the allegation.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the Jewish Power party and an ally of the prime minister, urged the Shin Bet to arrest all the leaders of Arab parties and question them “until these suspicions are fully clarified”.

Joint List chairman Yousef Jabareen accused Ben-Gvir and the prime minister of trying to “steal the election from the public”.

On Tuesday, Eisenkot said Netanyahu and his Likud party were “trying to carry out a veritable pogrom against democracy and the rule of law”.

His remarks followed Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara’s rejection of a reported request by Shin Bet chief David Zini — an appointee of the prime minister — to question four Arab politicians, after she said no evidence of wrongdoing had been presented.

Likud accused Baharav-Miara of trying to “obstruct the investigation and to cover up this serious case of manipulation of the electoral process by foreign actors”.