Israeli President on Sunday began consultations with representatives of parties elected to the parliament for formation of a new Government, calling upon them to start “healing” the rifts created during the “passion- filled” election, won by incumbent premier Benjamin Netanyahu. Reuven Rivlin, who is tasked with the responsibility to choose a leader who can provide a stable government, started meeting party leaders, five days after the election results gave likud party leader Netanyahu a comfortable win with 30 seats out of the 120 in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.
likud’s closest challenger the centre-left Zionist Union could manage only 24 seats. “The Government which will be formed may have been chosen by a majority of the public, but it needs to accommodate all of the Israeli public: Jews, Arabs, left and right, north and south, centre and periphery,” Rivlin said. Rivlin said Israel underwent a “tempestuous and passion-filled” election campaign, and that “now is the time to begin the process of mending and healing Israeli society.