Herzog to Begin Coalition Consultations Wednesday, Urges Parties to Find Compromises

President Isaac Herzog said on November 1 that he would receive the official election results on Wednesday, November 4, and then begin consultations with faction representatives at the President’s Residence. Speaking at the state memorial ceremony for Israel’s first president, Chaim Weizmann, he urged political leaders to seek compromises that could prevent another election. Herzog said Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg would deliver the results. The residence would then be open to every faction and party. He asked their representatives to arrive ready both to listen to ideas and to propose their own, and called for creative solutions rather than remaining fixed in campaign positions. “The election results are an established fact,” Herzog said. He described candidates’ campaign commitments through the image of climbing high trees, and presented the presidency’s task in the coming week as helping leaders move toward practical discussions now that the election was over. His remarks set out the next announced stage of the post-election process: receipt of the official results, followed by discussions with faction representatives. Herzog’s appeal concerned how the parties should approach those talks. He called on them to engage with the political reality produced by the vote while leaving room to hear proposals from others.