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Israeli President tells politicians to ‘clean up the mess’
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin told Parliamentarians yesterday to: “Put down the cudgels of elections and clean up the mess.”
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 21st Knesset, President Rivlin said: “This was a difficult election campaign. We have disparaged and been disparaged. We have distorted. We have worked overtime in the service of delegitimisation, hatred and execration. Now, it’s over. Enough. Now is the time to fight for our common home where secular, religious, ultra-Orthodox, Jews and Arabs — yes, they are called Arabs and there is nothing wrong with saying it — right and left, can find themselves equal.”
Rivlin also pleaded for ‘an end to the dangerous clash between the legislature and the judiciary’. He asked Knesset Members to: “Strengthen the separation of powers… to maintain the dignity and the independence of each branch of government and to end the overlap and mutual erosion between them. You, members of the Knesset, are in a position to add another vital brick in the wall protecting Israeli democracy and to ensure that the State of Israel continues to flourish as a Jewish and democratic, democratic and Jewish state.”
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein was elected for a third term and presided over the swearing in ceremony for Members of Knesset.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about the regional challenges facing Israel in the months ahead: “The Arab Spring has still not ended and the instability is not only in our region but throughout areas around us. Our new hope, which is growing stronger, is for peaceful relations and normal relations with many of our Arab neighbours,.” He added: “We will continue to act for the benefit of all citizens of Israel, without exception.”
The Blue and White party held its first meeting in the Knesset and Yair Lapid said Netanyahu: “Has been systemically tearing the nation apart. That’s how he makes his living.”
The 21st Knesset will consist of 29 women, compared to 35 in the 20th Knesset. Twelve MKs are not Jewish, one less than the 20th Knesset, and it will have a record number of members from the LGBT community — five compared to two in the previous Knesset.