The Media Line: Netanyahu Calls for ‘Broad National Government’ After Election Results Challenge Rejected 

Netanyahu Calls for ‘Broad National Government’ After Election Results Challenge Rejected  

By The Media Line Staff  

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Monday night for a “broad national government” that he would lead and that would include the ultra-Orthodox party, shifting from his post-election demand last week for “a strong, national, right-wing coalition.”  

Netanyahu’s statement came after Central Election Committee (CEC) chair Justice Noam Sohlberg rejected his request to delay certification of the election results over allegations of fraud.  

Likud lawyer and CEC member Ilan Bombach had written to Sohlberg earlier Monday seeking action on the basis of “serious suspicions of foreign interference.”  

Sohlberg rejected the request, saying the committee lacked the legal power to delay certification or become involved in an investigation that was already underway.  

“The Central Election Committee has no authority to withhold the certification of the results, nor does the committee have the authority to intervene in an ongoing investigation,” Sohlberg responded.  

Netanyahu, meanwhile, argued that the next government should not rely on the Arab parties Ra’am and the Joint List.  

“The public in Israel does not want a government that depends on Ra’am and the Joint List—parties that support terrorism and reject the existence of the Jewish state,” Netanyahu wrote Monday.  

His proposal comes as several opposition party leaders have lined up behind Yashar head Gadi Eisenkot for prime minister. Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman endorsed Eisenkot on Monday while maintaining that he would not enter a government containing the Arab parties.  

Naftali Bennet of B’Yachad and The Democrats leader Yair Golan endorsed Eisenkot on Sunday.  

President Isaac Herzog is scheduled to begin receiving party leaders Wednesday to hear their nominations. Herzog has publicly backed a unity government that would bring Netanyahu together with the opposition parties.  

A potential power-sharing arrangement, however, was rejected yesterday by coalition whip Likud MK Ofir Katz, who ruled out a rotation agreement in a possible government.