Israeli president warns against early elections

By Yousef Ibrahim
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Thursday warned against heading for early elections, citing turbulent security situation and political instability.

“As a nation, we are dealing with challenges that are not simple,” Herzog told the official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation in an interview. “We have to think carefully before jumping again into another instability in form of early elections, because we will pay the price for that.”

Herzog’s remarks came after the Israeli government last week lost its parliamentary majority following the withdrawal of lawmaker Idit Silman from the fragile coalition.

With Silman’s withdrawal, the ruling coalition is left in a position of neck-and-neck with the opposition headed by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at 60 parliamentary seats for both camps.

The Israeli leader called for protecting the stability of the political system in Israel, warning that early elections constitute a "great danger to the state."

Herzog described recent attacks carried out by Arab citizens in Israel as “very painful”, calling the perpetrators “killers who are trying to destabilize the daily routine of a country that aspires to live normally.”

Thirteen people were killed in Israel in a spate of attacks in Israel last month.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara