Likud lawmakers lashed out March 31 at Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, accusing him of cooperating with rivals of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and of encouraging them to promote an alliance against Netanyahu for the formation of a new government.

Anger against Rivlin erupted after the ceremony at his official residence where the head of the Central Election Committee, Supreme Court Judge Uzi Vogelman, presented Rivlin with the official results of the March 23 elections. Speaking at the event, Rivlin said, “I truly hope that the elected officials, representatives of the public, are able to hear the Israeli people's call for out-of-the-ordinary coalitions, collaborations across sectors, working for the good of all of Israel’s citizens.”

During the election campaign, Rivlin urged politicians to break the political deadlock that has lasted for over two years so as to avoid a fifth round of elections. But the term “out-of-the-ordinary coalitions” was interpreted by senior Likud officials as a call for political groupings to join forces against Netanyahu. Likud fears that the right-wing Yamina and New Hope parties will join the anti-Netanyahu bloc, as could the Arab parties the Joint List and Raam. Combinations of that sort could yield the 61-Knesset majority needed to form a new government.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev said after Rivlin’s remarks, “The president has a duty to respect the will of the electorate, to act as a statesman and to refrain from other considerations. It is not appropriate for a president who is ending his term in about a month to make decisions contrary to the tradition that has always been practiced — handing a mandate to form a government to whoever gets the most recommenders.”