President Reuven Rivlin said that Israel needed to get over its identity-based political system in order for the nation to advance.
"The political system in Israel is still a system based largely on identity politics - tell me which clan you are from and tell you which party you vote for. Over time, I hope we can move from a politics of identities to a politics of ideas," said Rivlin at the Open University.
"A political system with an ideological partnership as well as a partnership of interests is the platform by which not only coalitions but also parties will be formed."
"I would like to wish that in the future we will see ultra-Orthodox MKs from the coalition arguing with ultra-Orthodox MKs from the opposition, simply because they are divided on the right path, and I think that even if we are not there yet, the social and economic processes we are dealing with today will bring us there.