President Shimon Peres on Wednesday evening 19 Shevat 5773 began consultations with representatives of the parties elected to the 19th Knesset. The first two parties were Likud-Beitenu and Yesh Atid whose representatives came to the residence to meet with President Peres.
The representatives of Likud-Beitenu – Gideon Saar, Gilad Erdan, David Rotem, Yuval Steinitz and Ze’ev Elkin – arrived at the President’s Residence and were the first party to meet with the President. The sequence of meetings is determined by the size of the faction in the Knesset. At the beginning of the meeting President Peres said, “A few moments ago I received the official results and you are the largest faction in the 19th Knesset. I wish to congratulate you as the elections were conducted in a proper manner. The voters can be proud of their representatives.”
President Peres emphasized that while he would patiently conduct consultations with every party; his aim was to conclude the process as fast as possible. “I intend to consult with every party without depriving any party of the opportunity to voice their opinion; that is my duty according to the law.”
Gideon Saar informed Peres at the beginning of the meeting that Likud-Beitenu will recommend Binyamin Netanyahu as the most appropriate Knesset member to form the government, and that he believes that the government should be as broad as possible. Following the meeting Gideon Saar delivered a statement to the media and said, “The political reality is clear, only one candidate, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, can form a government and so we recommended him to President Peres. We held a conversation with President Peres on a range of issues including sharing the national burden, the Israeli economy and the Iranian threat, and we received his thoughts on the issues.”
The second party to meet with Mr. Peres was Yesh Atid. The representatives of the party were led by Yair Lapid and included Mickey Levy, Pnina Tamano-Shata and Yifat Kariv. President Peres congratulated the members of Yesh Atid at the start of the meeting and said, “I wish to congratulate you on your achievements in this election, 19 seats and you avoided a negative campaign. You presented an alternative, today you have a future, not only a past, and I am especially proud of the number of female representatives on your list.”
After the consultation meeting which was held behind closed doors, Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid delivered a statement to the press and said, “In Yesh Atid’s platform it is written that the person who should form the government is the head of the largest party. We meant it, and that is what I, and the three Knesset members with me, recommended to President Peres – we believe that is what is good for the State of Israel. That does not mean we will sit in the coalition, nothing is finalized yet.”
On Thursday, 20 Shevat, President Peres resumed his meetings and conduct consultations with the remaining ten political parties who were elected to the 19th Knesset. He began at 9:00am with the Labor Party and continuing in order of size of the faction.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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One Response
there are a couple of different types of people:
political junkies with their head in the aquarium playing fantasy football. every number, ever burp, every rock every little fish. they get into it
most of us have better things to value and are occupied with or find worthy to cherish…
then there are people who because they are specifically planning a future and a perspective and a vision on what movements are happening within the zionist state at the moment, and they see a rhyme and reason to it all… they grin and bear it and count their cards
and that makes it worthwhile sometimes and maybe even interesting and above all gives some legitimacy and context to the grime and oil that carries on unceasingly
soo i suggest putting in the reports a refrain or 2 with some perspective and future vision as opposed to sitting here watching a endless water wheel turn and turn and turn..
yasher koach!! if the hat fits wear it… and i think you can wear it