Herzog: Israel ‘hasn’t ended or been ruined,’ respect the election outcome

Addressing the official state ceremony for assassinated prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, President Isaac Herzog calls on Likud chief Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-religious bloc to treat the outgoing coalition with “respect” after winning a majority of Knesset seats in last week’s election.

“Embrace your brothers and sisters from the other side. Be attentive to their needs, their pain, their dreams. Remember: Elections in Israel are not a zero-sum game. Don’t be afraid to compromise… to prevent fracturing and rift among us,” Herzog says.

He then appeals to supporters of the last government, Jews abroad and others concerned over Netanyahu’s likely new coalition, which will be made up of the former premier’s Likud party, a pair of ultra-Orthodox parties and a far-right alliance.

“The country has not ended or been ruined. The democratic decision must be respected,” he says. “We are all committed to the State of Israel’s fate. We are all committed its basic contours as a Jewish and democratic state, to maintaining the rule of law and human and civil rights, to respecting all minority groups.”