Israel's President to Begin Consultations With Parties After Election Deadlock

Israel's President Isaac Herzog is to begin consultations with political parties on whom to task with forming a new coalition government, after receiving the official results of last week's general election, which he said had no clear winner.

On Wednesday morning in Jerusalem, Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg presented the official results to President Herzog at a ceremony. Herzog announced that he would begin the consultation process on Wednesday evening.

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

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

That makes the Arab-led alliances potential kingmakers. However, all but one of the Jewish parties pledged before the polls not to work with them to form a government.

The role of Israel's president is largely ceremonial, but after an election they invite a member of the Knesset to form a government. That person is given 28 days to do so, with a potential 14-day extension.

The president has wide discretion to pick someone they believe has the best chance of building a coalition. They do not have to choose the leader of the party with the most seats.

Herzog told party leaders that 'not every commitment and promise can be fulfilled' if they want to avoid another election. He said: '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.'

At the ceremony, Justice Sohlberg said: '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.' He added that one of the foundations of democracy is the ability to have a peaceful transfer of power.

Earlier, electoral officials said there was no evidence of irregularities, and that unsubstantiated claims by Netanyahu's camp that Arab-led parties were 'stealing' the election did not justify delaying certification of the results.

The Shin Bet security service is investigating allegations of foreign interference in the election, but the head of the Central Elections Committee stressed that they would not fundamentally change the outcome. Herzog expressed confidence in the Shin Bet's ability to investigate and appealed for patience.