President Reuven Rivlin has asked not to be seated next to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at an event in Jerusalem this evening commemorating Israeli troops killed in battle, Channel 12 news reports.
The families of soldiers will sit between them, according to the network.
“These are sensitive days of consultations with [political] factions,” organizers of the event say, referring to talks Rivlin will hold this week with party leaders on who should form the next government.
Netanyahu and Rivlin have long been reported to have a tense relationship, with the prime minister saying ahead of last week’s elections for the Knesset that the president was looking for an “excuse” to task political rival Benny Gantz with assembling a coalition.
Rivlin strongly denounced Netanyahu’s comment, with his office saying it was a “despicable attempt” to undermine the public’s trust in his choice of who should get the first go at cobbling together a ruling majority.
President Reuven Rivlin (right) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a memorial service marking 23 years since the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, at Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem, on October 21, 2018. (Marc Israel Sellem/Pool)
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