President Isaac Herzog formally accepted the results of Israel’s election to the 26th Knesset on November 4, 2026, and urged political parties to approach government formation with flexibility. Receiving the results from Central Elections Committee chairman Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg at the President’s Residence, Herzog said the outcome had produced no clear winner and called for efforts to avoid another election.
Party representatives were scheduled to begin consultations at the residence in the early evening. Herzog said parties could not expect to fulfill every pledge under the circumstances, although he was not asking them to abandon their fundamental values. He appealed for creativity, courage and goodwill in assembling a stable government, saying the country faced consequential issues, including some requiring urgent attention.
Herzog said the law gave the president broad discretion in selecting a Knesset member to undertake the task of forming a government. He pledged frank and searching discussions with party representatives, including difficult questions, and said he would arrange further rounds of consultations at different levels if needed. He urged participants to make the country’s interests their central consideration.
Addressing an investigation mentioned by Sohlberg, Herzog said any suspected subversive outside influence on the election results must be thoroughly examined by the Shin Bet and police. He expressed confidence in law enforcement and urged patience while the special investigative team carried out its work. Herzog also said he had spoken that morning with Shin Bet chief David Zini and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, expressing respect for both and confidence that public servants would work together despite institutional tensions.
Herzog separately condemned recent racist expressions and vulgar language directed at Arab society in Israel. He warned against casting suspicion or blame on an entire community, praised Arab citizens’ contributions across national life and welcomed their desire to integrate. Such language, he said, had no place when directed at any demographic in the country.
The president noted that consultations were beginning on the calendar anniversary of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination, 31 years earlier. He described the date as a warning about political disagreement developing into hatred and rivalry turning violent. Rejecting both physical and verbal violence against individuals and communities, he urged citizens to reach out across deep divisions.
Herzog pointed to security and diplomatic challenges, regional changes and internal divisions as reasons for political leaders to act responsibly. After three years of war, he said, bereaved families, wounded people, reservists and their families, business owners and others were looking to the leadership. He also thanked Sohlberg, Acting Director General Dean Livne and election workers for organizing the previous week’s vote, praising their professionalism and describing widespread participation despite earlier warnings that the election might not take place.
