Rivlin taps Netanyahu to form next government
Netanyahu vows he will continue leading 'a Jewish and democratic country that has full equal rights to all of its citizens'; marks the 2 major challenges of the new gov't as 'fortifying our defenses and improving our welfare'.
President Reuven Rivlin tasked incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with forming the next government on Wednesday night, after receiving the official election results from Central Election Committee chairman Judge Salim Joubran.
Thanking the citizens of Israel for placing their trust in him, Netanyahu said he viewed himself "as the prime minister of each and every one of you - those who elected me and those who did not. I will act to mend the rifts which have opened up between different segments of society during the election."
Netanyahu urged Israeli citizens to put the elections behind them and focus on what unites them.
"I must continue on this path in the next government that is formed - a Jewish and democratic country that gives full equal rights to all of its citizens regardless of religious, race or gender. So it has always been, and so it always will be," he said.
He marked the two major challenges the next government is faced with - "fortifying our defenses and improving our welfare."
Netanyahu vowed to continue working to stop the deal being formulated between world powers and Iran. "This agreement endangers us, our neighbors, and the world," he said.
"We see eye to eye with many of our Arab neighbors regarding the danger Iran poses, and recognize the benefits this new partnership will yield to the region," Netanyahu continued.
"You are tasked with the grave responsibility of forming a government as stable and as wide as possible, and soon," Rivlin told Netanyahu.
"The incoming government and Knesset are faced with three critical tasks, both coalition and opposition as one," he said.
"The first is reinforcing the ties between Israel and the US, our biggest and most important ally. The second is to restore stability to the political system and restoring the public's trust in the system - we must not go back to elections in two years. And the third is healing the painful wounds and rifts opened in recent years, which have grown during this election campaign," the president continued.
"To the citizens of Israel, we've gone through a difficult election campaign... Things were said on all sides that should not have been said. Not in a Jewish state, and not in a democratic state. The heat of the flames serves no one. The fire is not just hot, it could burn," Rivlin cautioned.
"Today is time to start the healing. This is the time to start mending the rifts. We must also be prepared for difficult days that might come. In order for us to fight for our home, we must continue building it, together, all Israeli citizens as one," the president went on to say. "The responsibility for that lies on all of our shoulders, and it lies on your shoulder, Mr. Prime Minister."
"I accept the task you gave me of forming the government with a feeling of great responsibility," Netanyahu told the president. "I must tell you, I'm excited as if this was the first time, and I'm well aware of the magnitude of the responsibility placed upon me."
"In each and every generation a man is obligated to see himself as if he has left behind his personal confinements," the prime minister said, quoting from the Passover story. "My friends and citizens of Israel, I do not forget this commandment for a moment. I remember well that our freedom is not to be taken for granted. We will ensure it only if we are righteous and united."
Earlier, after receiving the official election results from Central Election Committee chairman Judge Salim Joubran, Rivlin said in an apparent criticism of Netanyahu's comments on Election Day against Arab voters who are going to the polls "in droves," that a high voter turnout was a blessing, not a curse.
"The elections are the only referendum in our democracy," the president said in his meeting with Judge Joubran. "Shame on us if we view the fulfillment of the democratic duty of voting as a curse, or something that must be warned against."
"Those afraid of ballots at the polls will end up getting stones thrown in the streets," he added.
The president thanked Judge Joubran for allowing him to start consultations on the formation of the government earlier, saying that "in the face of the challenges before us, and the critical need for the system of governance to return to full capacity, we must act to establish a stable government, in the speediest and most transparent manner."
The surprise victor of a March 17 election, Netanyahu looks well set to assemble a heavily right-leaning cabinet that will control 67 of parliament's 120 seats - a large majority in a country where no one party has ever been able to rule by itself.
Netanyahu will have up to six weeks to put together his new coalition.
Two far-right parties - Bayit Yehudi, which won eight seats, and Yisrael Beytenu, with six - have already pledged their support for Netanyahu in consultations with Rivlin.
In addition, centrist Kulanu, with 10 seats, ultra-Orthodox Shas, with seven, and United Torah Judaism, with six, have also backed Netanyahu, whose Likud has 30 legislators of its own.
Although the horse trading for cabinet positions has yet to start, Likud announced that Netanyahu will name Kulanu's leader, Moshe Kahlon, as the next finance minister, replacing the centrist Yair Lapid, who has refused to join the new government.
Kahlon, a former Likud member, focused his newly founded party's campaign on Israel's high cost of living, promising to reform the housing and banking sectors and bring down real estate prices, which have doubled since 2007.
A Likud team is due to begin bargaining sessions with its prospective coalition partners on Thursday.
One of Kahlon's first tasks will be to pass a budget for 2015 and 2016 as the country has been operating since the start of the year without a new financial program.
Shas and United Torah Judaism are expected to pursue a narrow agenda to benefit their own largely poor religious sector, leaving Likud and the ultra-nationalists as the main players on hot-button matters such as Iran's nuclear program and peace with the Palestinians.
Tzachi Hanegbi of Likud, deputy foreign minister in the outgoing government, predicted a slow path to a coalition, with far-right partners likely to lobby for top cabinet posts, such as defense and foreign affairs.
"It will take time. It will demand nerves of steel from all sides, particularly from the prime minister," he told Israel Radio.
