JERUSALEM
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has asserted the need of the formation of a coalition government in order to avoid another early election if no party could score a clear victory in the looming polls.
In the case of a near tie between competing parties, Rivlin plans to work on cobbling together a national unity government that would be tasked with changing the electoral system in Israel, the president was quoted as saying by Israeli Channel 2.
Rivilin, however, stopped short from speaking on the nature of such changes.
The Israeli leader said that the country must avoid a politically unstable situation where fresh elections are held nearly every two years.
The president went on to note that he will call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Isaac Herzog to agree on forming a coalition to prevent Israel from "turning into Italy," where elections are held every two years.
Last week's opinion polls indicated that Netanyahu's right-wing Likud and the centrist Zionist Camp alliance – led by Herzog and former Justice Minister Tzipi Livni – were neck-to-neck, which will affect the stability of the government if one party forms the government with a mere plurality.
Israelis are due to elect a new parliament on March 17 in fresh polls prompted by divisions within Netanyahu's coalition government.
Israel's general elections are held every four years unless an early election is called for.
