Jerusalem:Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed his openness to forming a broad government but maintains that he should remain as the leader of the government.

According to Anadolu Agency – English, Netanyahu stated that his Likud party aims to form a broad coalition with partners and any party willing to join, provided they do not support terrorism. He made these remarks on the social media platform X, emphasizing his readiness for dialogue on the matter.

Netanyahu highlighted that the public in Israel is not in favor of a government reliant on the Arab parliamentary lists, Ra'am and the Joint List. He asserted that he has a mandate to remain as prime minister following the recent parliamentary elections, noting that a clear majority of the Jewish public chose Likud as the largest party and him as the leader to form the next government.

In contrast, opposition parties, including former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's Together party, Yair Golan's Democrats, and Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beytenu, are recommending President Isaac Herzog to task Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming the next government. Eisenkot currently has the backing of 48 lawmakers, with the possibility of support increasing to 67 if the two Arab parliamentary lists also endorse him.

The elections resulted in Netanyahu's bloc securing 53 seats, with opposition parties gaining 48 and Arab parties obtaining 19, leaving neither bloc with a majority in the 120-member Knesset. Lieberman has opposed joining a government that includes or is dependent on Arab parties for support.

President Herzog is set to begin consultations with parliamentary factions before selecting a lawmaker to receive the mandate to form the next government.