President Reuven Rivlin received the official results of the elections for the 24th Knesset this morning (Wednesday).
The election results were presented to the president by the chairman of the Elections Committee, Judge Uzi Fogelman, and the committee's CEO, Orly Ades.
Rivlin said: "The main consideration that will guide me in choosing the candidate to whom I will entrust the task of forming the government is the chances of the elected Knesset member to form a government that will win the trust of the Knesset. A government that will be able to heal the rifts between us, and rebuild Israeli society, which has suffered a very hard blow in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic.".
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'"Israeli society needs a government that will pass a state budget, that will lead the way to healing the systems and citizens that have been harmed, and that will rescue the state's institutions from the political stalemate we have found ourselves in precisely at the moments when the citizens of Israel need them most.".
The President emphasized: "I am hopeful that the elected officials will be able to hear the people of Israel, their demand for unconventional connections, for cross-sectoral collaborations, for substantive and dedicated work for all citizens of Israel.".
Next Monday, Rivlin will begin the consultation process ahead of assigning the task of forming a government to one of the Knesset members.
A member of the Knesset who has received a mandate to form a government will have 28 days to complete the task. The President may extend the period by an additional 14 days.
If the period given to a Knesset member has passed and he has not been able to form a government, or if the Knesset member has informed the President that he is unable to form a government, or if a government has been presented and the Knesset has rejected the motion to express confidence in it, the President has two options that he must exercise within three days:
1. To assign the formation of the government to another MK who has notified the President that he is willing to accept the task of forming the government, and this MK will have 28 days to form the government.
2. Inform the Speaker of the Knesset that he does not see the possibility of forming a government.
If the President has informed the Speaker of the Knesset that he does not see a possibility of forming a government, or has assigned the task of forming a government to another MK and he too has failed to form a government, or has informed the MK that he is unable to form a government, or has presented a government and the Knesset has rejected the motion to express confidence in it - a majority (61) of the Knesset members may request the President in writing to assign the role to an MK of their choice, who has agreed to this in writing, all within 21 days.
If such a request is submitted, the President must assign the position to the MK specified in the request within two days, and the MK to whom the position was assigned by the majority of Knesset members is given 14 days to form a government.
If a request was not submitted by a majority of Knesset members, or if a MK who was requested on behalf of a majority of Knesset members did not form a government, or if he informed the President that he was unable to form a government, or if the government was presented and the Knesset did not give it confidence, the Knesset will dissolve before the end of the term and elections will be held.
