Israel’s President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday called for lowering political tension in the country during a speech at the start of the new legislature in the Israeli Parliament.
Herzog, who said that Israelis are «tired of fighting», called for «cohesion» and to put an end, as far as possible, to political divisions now that the Knesset has the largest number of right-wing deputies in history.
In this regard, he stressed that Israelis, who have gone to the polls five times in just four years, are «proud of their country but also exhausted of the fights and their consequences».
Thus, he pointed out that it is «the responsibility of the elected representatives to strengthen the alliance between members of Israeli civil society, of all beliefs and religions», according to information from the newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’.
«The population expects you to work for your communities and to fulfill your parliamentary role. That we get up every day and take care of them,» he asserted before stressing the importance of working through «dialogue and respect, in a fair manner.»
For his part, the Prime Minister-elect, Benjamin Netanyahu, has ventured that he will manage to form a government «soon» after having won, together with his far-right allies, the majority in Parliament after the elections of last November 1. Negotiations to form a coalition government are continuing, according to sources close to the matter.
Outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid has stressed that the Knesset should be a «model for civil debate» and called on MPs to use the institution to «exchange ideas.» «We need Parliament to be a place of thought, not a place where everything is based on exchanging insults,» he has pointed out.
«We need it to be the place that all Israeli citizens expect, not the place where the citizens of Israel feel ashamed of their representatives,» he said.
The parliamentary elections resulted in the victory of the right-wing bloc led by Netanyahu’s Likud, which is supported by ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties.
In second place was the liberal center Yesh Atid party, followed by the Religious Zionist Party, which for the first time in the country’s history has managed to place an extreme right-wing party in third place.
Last Sunday, Herzog entrusted Netanyahu with the task of forming a government. If he succeeds, it will be his sixth term as prime minister. The elections were called after Lapid’s coalition lost its majority after about a year in power.
