Full text of President Herzog’s remarks on receiving official 2026 election results

Following are the full remarks delivered by President Isaac Herzog upon receiving  the 2026 election results from Central Elections Committee chairman Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg at the President’s Residence on November 4, 2026.

I wish to open my remarks by thanking you, Honorable Justice Sohlberg, for leading the election campaign for the 26th Knesset as chairman of the Central Elections Committee. You have shown leadership, integrity, and clarity of thought, and the people of Israel owe you a great deal for this as well.

Election day last week took place thanks to the tireless work of thousands of employees under the committee you head, and under the direction of Acting Director General Dean Livne. Thank you, attorney Livne, and thank you to all the teams, staff, and representatives of the committee.

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You have fulfilled your mission faithfully, with professionalism and thoroughness. Despite warnings that the election would, heaven forbid, not take place, last week we saw a true celebration of democracy. Israel’s citizens turned out in their masses to the polling stations across the country.

Through you, Honorable Justice, I wish to thank everyone involved in this work from the bottom of my heart. Well done.

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I hereby receive the official results of the election to the 26th Knesset as you have declared them, Honorable Justice. I adopt them and confirm their acceptance in accordance with the law.

I wish to address the investigation you mentioned in your remarks. I have said it before and I repeat it here: I place my trust in the work of the Shin Bet, the police, and the law enforcement authorities. Any suspicion of subversive outside influence on the election results must be investigated to the fullest extent by the Shin Bet and the police.

We need patience. The investigation will be conducted professionally, with all parties in the special investigative team cooperating, and I trust these processes, as has been the practice in the past.

I respect the head of the Shin Bet, David Zini, and his work. I respect the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, and her work. I spoke with both of them this morning. Tension between the Shin Bet and the legal advisory system has existed in Israel before and will exist again. It is an inherent tension in a democratic state.

The State of Israel has been blessed with loyal and capable public servants. I trust them and their integrity, and I am convinced they will know how to act together.

Regarding Arab society in Israel, I wish to emphasize once more: One must not smear an entire public. Beware of generalizations! I hold Israel’s Arab society in great respect. I value its contribution to the country in all areas of life and its desire to integrate. This is a welcome thing. I condemn the vulgarity and racist expressions we have heard recently. There is no place for them toward any demographic in Israel.

My sisters and brothers, citizens of Israel, I will now begin the process of consultations toward assigning the mandate to form a government. Representatives of the parties will begin arriving here, at the President’s Residence, today in the early evening, on a date of unparalleled symbolism: the fourth of November. The secular date on which Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, of blessed memory, was murdered thirty-one years ago.

This date will forever stand as a searing reminder, one that warns of what can happen to us when disagreement turns into hatred, and when political rivalry turns into violence. There is no place for violence among us, neither physical nor verbal, not against an individual and not against any public, sector, or community.

There is room, my sisters and brothers, citizens of Israel, to extend a hand, even amid a bitter dispute that tears us apart in too many areas. The election is over, and now it is time to face reality.

On the eve of Yom Kippur, the Jewish people recite the Kol Nidre prayer, in which we release vows and cancel bans so that we may return and repair, saying: “All vows, prohibitions, oaths, and bans… are released, abandoned, canceled, and nullified.”

As the consultation process begins, in order to prevent a repeat election and to build a stable and good government for the people of Israel, I expect the parties and their representatives to understand that, under the current reality, it is not possible to fulfill every commitment and promise.

It is important to me to stress that I am not asking anyone to give up their core values. But in the present reality, where there is no clear winner after the election, I ask for originality and creativity, boldness and goodwill, so that the State of Israel emerges victorious. The issues at stake are fateful, and some demand urgent attention.

It is enough for any reasonable person to see the security and diplomatic challenges before us, to look at the changing region around us, and to recall the issues that tear us apart from within, to understand that an enormous responsibility rests upon us.

After three years of war, the public’s eyes are turned to you, the leaders. The eyes of the bereaved families, the wounded, the reservists and the families who serve alongside them, business owners and breadwinners, and so many more.

The legislature has granted the president of the state very broad discretion in deciding which Knesset member to charge with forming a government. The only test I will ask the parties and their representatives to keep before their eyes when they come here is: what is truly in the best interest of the country at this time.

I intend to hold open, probing, and sharp discussions with the representatives of the parties. I will also ask difficult questions, and if necessary I will hold additional rounds of consultations at various levels in order to try to obtain satisfactory answers.

I thank you again, Justice Noam Sohlberg, and the entire committee staff, and I warmly welcome the representatives of the parties to the consultations on forming the next government.