President Isaac Herzog began consulting on Wednesday with representatives of the factions elected to the 26th Knesset on who should form the next government.
As opposed to the past, when the largest party was the first to meet with the president, this time Herzog chose to begin with the party that won the fewest seats and proceed in order of seats won. The first meeting held was with the Religious Zionist party, followed by Shas, Yisrael Beytenu, and Zehut.
On the first evening of the consultations, the President will already hear recommendations for both leading candidates, as the Religious Zionists, Shas, and Zhut are expected to recommend Benjamin Netanyahu to form the government, while Yisrael Beytenu is expected to recommend Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot.
Representing the Religious Zionists were Orit Strock, Tzvika Mor, and Itamar Eitam, who opened by stating that they would recommend Netanyahu. "We are concerned by the suspicions that the Shin Bet and police are investigating, and call for the investigation to be exhausted without obstacles," Strock stated. "Regardless of the investigation, we believe that the Arab nationalist parties' efforts to form a government and remove the Knesset Speaker are illegitimate in this process. Not because they are Arab, but because they are nationalist, because to them, the foundation of the State of Israel was a Nakba (catastrophe), and their victory was for their brethren who are our enemies."
Herzog objected: "How do you differentiate between racism and what you're saying?" She replied, "Reality checks out: Arab Israeli citizens had the opportunity to vote for an Arab candidate who served in the IDF, Yoseph Haddad, but the Arab citizens of Israel voted for candidates who see the foundation of the State of Israel as a catastrophe."
Herzog later mentioned Yoav Segalovitz: "Ra'am's number two was a senior commander in the police and a soldier. You have to understand that we live with Arab citizens in Israel. This generalization bothers me a lot."
Tzvika Mor was told that "it is a very dangerous statement to accuse another side of trying to take over the country from within. That is casting aspersions on them." Mor responded: "I'm not casting aspersions. I'm simply hearing Mansour Abbas say that this entire country belongs to us. We need to state the obvious: This country is first and foremost a Jewish state, and alongside that, we are all obligated to 'love the stranger.'"
President Herzog replied: "That is an important statement. It also means knowing how to condemn racism."
"Of course," Mor responded, "but there is a minority here with nationalist aspirations, and that is where we need to draw the line."
The President added: "You can see that there is an attempt to reach out, a desire to integrate." Mor replied: "Integrate for what purpose? We need to listen not to what Abbas says on Reshet Bet, but to what he tells his own audience. He is a sheikh, a mufti. The Arab leadership is not focused on integrating into our society, which could have been a blessing, but rather on promoting Palestinian nationalism and taking control of the land from us."