Israel's Herzog urges compromise to form government after divisive election

Israel's President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday urged political leaders to compromise in forming a government after an election he said had no clear winner and condemned "racist" rhetoric against Arab parties.

More than a week after Israel's first election since the trauma of the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas, Herzog was beginning consultations with party leaders as he decides whether to give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or his rival Gadi Eisenkot the first chance to form a government in the deeply polarised country.

With neither bloc holding a majority in the 120-seat parliament after the October 27 vote, Herzog said both sides needed to accept that "not every commitment and promise can be fulfilled" and to avoid new elections.

"In the current reality, in which there is no clear winner after the elections, I ask for originality and creativity, courage and goodwill, so that the State of Israel emerges the winner," Herzog said as he formally received the election results.

The election saw soaring support for lists from the Arab minority, descendants of Palestinians who stayed in Israel after its 1948 creation and who have largely been outraged by the harsh rhetoric and actions of Netanyahu's hard-right government.

Netanyahu has gone on the offensive against Arab-majority lists, who have the power to put Eisenkot in power if they team up.

Netanyahu has pointed to the arrests of several people with envelopes of cash on election day in what authorities called localised incidents and accused leaders of accepting money from Qatar, an allegation also levelled against the prime minister's own aides.

Without naming any leader, Herzog, whose role is usually ceremonial, said he had "great respect" for the Arab minority, which makes up around 20 percent of Israel's population.

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

No evidence found

The Central Elections Committee said it had conducted an audit of 9,069 polling stations following complaints and found no evidence that would question the results' integrity.

Justice Noam Sohlberg, who heads the committee, said authorities would keep investigating allegations but that they would not fundamentally change the results.

Warning not to erode democracy, Sohlberg said: "There is one thing on which we must agree: election results, as lawfully determined, are binding on us all."

The election committee, which reflects the makeup of the outgoing parliament, formally approved the results with 15 members in favour and two against but 14 others abstaining.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the ultranationalist national security minister known for his provocative calls for Palestinian suffering, said his party did not accept the results and he urged the arrest of Arab-Israeli party leaders.

Eisenkot, a former military chief trying to unite centrists and the centre-right and turn the page on Netanyahu's long, divisive reign, has accused the prime minister's Likud party of attempting a "pogrom against democracy".

Buoyed by US elections

Eisenkot had earlier warned Netanyahu against launching a new war with his close ally US President Donald Trump against Iran, which could help the Israeli prime minister push for a unity government or to run out the clock until new elections.

Opposition lawmakers said Tuesday's midterm elections in the United States, in which Democrats trounced Trump's Republicans, reinforced the need to remove Netanyahu.

Democrats have vowed a tougher line on Israel amid outrage over the devastation wrought by the war in Gaza. Trump said as voting was underway that he had agreed with Netanyahu to end nearly $4 billion in annual US military aid to Israel by the end of the year.

"The continued tenure of Netanyahu and Ben Gvir could lead Israel down a path of international sanctions, international isolation and a clash with the US, our friend and most important ally," said Yair Golan, who heads the most left-wing party within the opposition bloc.

Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister who has been in power on and off for nearly two decades, has called for a "broad national government" – with himself at the top. He faces corruption charges that could land him in jail if he leaves office.

Herzog's statements have raised speculation that he could sound out leaders on a possible unity government, but Eisenkot and his allies have ruled that out.

Herzog will hold an initial two days of consultations and then give a contender 28 days to form a government, with a potential 14-day extension.

It took Netanyahu, who at the time had a better showing by Likud, 58 days to form a government after the last election in November 2022.

Israel held five elections between 2019 and 2022 after repeated deadlocks.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)