Rivlin on political impasse: It seems political leaders ‘want to go crazy’

President Reuven Rivlin says Israel is in the midst of a “troubled time,” after months of political deadlock and that leading politicians seemingly prefer “to go crazy,” rather than compromise on a government.

“I won’t be exaggerating if [I] say that this is a troubled time for the State of Israel,” Rivlin writes in a series of tweets. “This is not a troubled time for one political side or the other. This is a troubled time for all of us.”

In a direct appeal to political leaders, Rivlin quotes a line from Israeli poet Haim Hefer — “They don’t want to sleep, they want to go crazy” — to describe the two months of coalition talks since elections in September ended inconclusively.

“You haven’t slept for two months already, and it appears to me [you] just want to go crazy,” the president says. “If that’s what you want, go crazy! But why drag the nation in Israel with you?”

As the Knesset has until December 11 for lawmakers to nominate a MK to form a government, Rivlin says there is still time to put Israel back on its “proper path.”

After neither secured a majority of seats together with their respective allies in the September vote, both Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and Likud chief Benjamin Netanyahu have expressed their support for a unity government of their parties, but talks between them have failed to result in a coalition and they have traded blame for the impasse.