The swearing-in ceremony for the 22nd Knesset took place Thursday, for the second time in five months, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu using the opportunity to urge lawmakers to join his would-be fifth government.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Netanyahu, who is struggling to form a coalition because of corruption allegations, voiced support for a broad unity government during the event, calling on the center-left Blue and White alliance to help him get a governing coalition.
Blue and White is refusing to serve under Netanyahu until he resolves his legal issues but has been willing to enter into a power-sharing agreement with him.
Blue and White insists that a rotating premiership, in which he would start serving only in two years, is the only situation in which they could accept his continued premiership, but he has turned that down.
"We want a unity government, comprising all those who support a Jewish, democratic state," Netanyahu said at the Knesset swearing in ceremony. He later added that the time to form a new government was crucial. "No other country has to face an existential threat like we do. 'Israel will disappear,' Iran says, and we need to take it seriously.
He went to on warn that "the choices we make here will greatly affect our future," noting that the continued political stagnation could put Israel at peril. "We need a government that will function in the name of all Israel's citizens and with God's help, we will establish one. Have a good new year."
