 led by outgoing Prime Minister Lapida, just urged lawmakers to behave because the president is arriving. Again, a very typical behavior of the Israeli parliament. That appears to be the zeitgeist at this time and age. Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, is expected to take the podium only a short days ago, officially giving Benjamin Netanyahu the mandate to form a coalition. According to the Israeli law, there are stipulates that whoever gets the first shot at forming a coalition gets 28 days to do so, with a potential extension of an additional 14 days pending presidential approval. As it seems, Netanyahu will not be needing any extension in the previous election rounds, not so far ago. There was a strategic game here of who gets the first shot, who gets the second shot because neither side of the political divide or aisle rather had clear majority, hence a clear path to a coalition. This time around, this is not the case, it's all about finalizing coalition talks and now we're seeing the Israeli president arriving at the plenum. Please be seated. It is my honor to open the first session of the 25th Knesset. Today, Tuesday, Cheshuvan 215783, November 15, 2022. Mr. Prime Minister, Yair Lapid and Mrs. Leahy Lapid, Speaker of Knesset, M.K. Micky Levy and Mrs. Nourith Levy, the president of the Supreme Court, Judge Esther Chayout and Mr. David Chayout, head of the opposition, member of Knesset, Benjamin Netanyahu and Mrs. Sarah Netanyahu, former Speaker of Knesset Dan Tichon and Mrs. Ludmila Tichon, government ministers, members of Knesset, president and former, and members of their families, Netanyahu Engelman, a state controller, the governor of the Bank of Israel, Professor Amir Yaron, chief of police, Kobi Shabtai, governor of the prison, Kreti Perry, heads of foreign representations in Israel, citizens of Israel and distinguished guests. Before I begin, I wish to address the awful terror attack this morning in Ariel, an attack that wounds the heart and rattles the soul, in which a depraved terrorist targeted innocence whose only crime was wanting to lead quiet lives in their country, our country, Israel. Israel will continue to stand firmly and assertively everywhere and always against acts of terror and hatred that rear their heads and menace us all. On behalf of the entire Israeli people, I share the deep grief of the victims' families and of the city of Ariel, and I pray for the health of the injured, to Israel's enemies and those who wish us ill, to those who would have us divided and weak, those who are responsible for this terror attack. I wish to send this unambiguous message, you shall not succeed in rattling our might and our cohesion, not by means of threats, not through violence, not through terror, nor by means of foolish endeavors on the international stage. Those who rise up to destroy us will always find us ready and determined, one hand clutching a weapon, and the other extended in peace. Our security forces will continue protecting our citizens, the state of Israel's diplomatic and judicial institutions, including our Supreme Court, will continue to serve as our diplomatic and judicial defensive wall in the international arena, and above all, you shall face the mighty, eternal Israeli spirit uncompromising and unflinching. Make no mistake, haters of Israel, our domestic arguments reflect the power of our democracy and its internal resilience. It is precisely because of them, and especially because of them, that you shall never defeat us. Dear members of Knesset, we have a tradition that in the temple in Jerusalem, the outgoing God used to bless the incoming God, saying, may he who caused his name to dwell in this house cause love and brotherhood, peace and camaraderie to dwell among you. I wish to express thanks to the outgoing God, the 24th Knesset, coalition and opposition alike. To you, my friend, Knesset speaker, MK Micky Levy, who acted and worked with a sense of duty and faith, and to the 36th government of Israel and all its ministers, led by Prime Minister Yair Lipid and his predecessor, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, for your work and cooperation on behalf of this nation and state. And I wish to bless you and the incoming God, the 25th Knesset, and especially new members of Knesset, the leader of the opposition, and the candidate who has been assigned the task of forming a government, Benjamin Netanyahu, and members of the 37th government to be formed in its time with the same blessing. May he who caused his name to dwell in this house cause love and brotherhood, peace and camaraderie to dwell among you. This is your most important task. This is the mission of this house. I wish to note two parties that I shall personally miss, as shall some of you. I am sure in the current Knesset, two parties with deep historical roots of a century or so of contributions to building our people, our land and our state. Merit and the National Religious Party Maffdal in their various incarnations. Ladies and gentlemen, I come here from the graveside of the first president of the State of Israel, Dr. Chaim Weizmann of Blessed Memory. I come from the state memorial ceremony marking 70 years since his passing. President Weizmann, the founding father as he was called, was a scientist and statesman who successfully worked to bring about the historic Balfour Declaration and often spoke of his vision for the State of Israel and the essential conditions for its realization. On our country's Fourth Independence Day, he underscored and I quote, the future of the State of Israel rests on three foundations, eternal love, an effort to build and peace to all near and far, thus he spent. Eternal love. This was the first and most basic pillar of Weizmann's vision and it remains a core condition for our future, unity, cohesion and the enhancement of what we have in common, deepening our recognition and understanding that we disagree on many issues and often adhere to different lifestyles, opinions and beliefs from each other. And yet despite and above it all, sisters and brothers we remain, sharing not only a covenant of fate but a covenant of destiny to live here together, to deal with our challenges together, to build ourselves here together. Sisters and brothers, conscious of what this plenum has known and reflected for decades, that arguments have value and there is a way of managing these arguments with listening, respect and openness, not arguments of boycotts, not arguments of negating and erasing the other, not aggressive disagreements that become destructive disagreements. Our historical experience teaches us that every time this nation has chosen to warp down separate paths, every time a disagreement was not conducted by peaceful means, every time one side turned one way and the other side turned another, down one path to Judah and down another to Israel, result was unspeakably awful. We lost our way and we lost our home. This is all the more true nowadays when in the whirlwind of elections what unites us was pushed out of sight and what divides us stole the show. The citizens of Israel today are proud of their country which this year will celebrate 75 years of independence and they believe in the righteousness of its cause but at the same time to tell you the truth they are exhausted from the infighting in its fallout. Now the responsibility lies first and foremost with you, the public's elected representatives, responsibility to try to wean us off this addiction to never-ending conflicts and if I may off the excessive enslavement to what will they write and what will they say to what will get more reactions, likes and shares and to how can we cause a social media storm, responsibility to take a deep breath, investigate the facts and engage in careful consideration before every speech, interview or time you hit the keyboard. Responsibility to strengthen the partnership between all stripes of Israeli society for all faiths and religions, Jews, Arabs, Druze, Christians and Circassians, Heredity and secular, traditionalist and religious. Those who are finally represented in all this house and those who are less so. Those who will receive the reins of power and those who will sit on the opposition benches. Responsibility to walk arm in arm as we continue our collective journey. As you know last week, I met your representatives, representatives of the parliamentary group in the consultations I held at the president's residence in accordance with basic law the government. I thank these representatives for our fascinating in-depth conversations which reflected in a fine and respectful manner the diverse breadth of positions, opinions and beliefs within Israeli society and among its elected officials on important and vital issues for our existence. Such is the power of Israeli democracy and I firmly believe that here too in the Knesset that is being sworn in today this power will find expression. Dear members of Knesset, the Israeli public has had its say and has elected you in impressive numbers to work in its name. Now citizens of Israel expect you simply to work for them. They expect you, all of you, to work for them in the committees, in the plenum and in your assorted public and parliamentary roles. They expect us, all of us, to wake up every morning and look out for them to lower the cost of living, to enhance personal security, to improve education and welfare, to solve the congestion on the roads and public transport challenges, to reduce inequality between the periphery and the center, to contribute and play a role in a global confrontation with a climate crisis which endangers our lives and those of our children, to develop, nurture and improve the lives of all of us here as lives full of values and meaning, identity, pride and hope and so many more important challenges. This is what concerns the citizens of Israel and this is what you must focus on day and night. I wish to recall especially at this festive session that there are also communities and especially minorities who are fearful that their needs will not be on the agenda. You, the public's elected representatives, must give this your consideration and keep them in your sights too. Ladies and gentlemen, this country's founders' choice based on Sierdo Herzl's doctrine and vision of a representative democratic regime in which all citizens have equal rights and in which there are limitations on power and authorities are separated and balanced was a wise choice, a choice of good. This was how we built a state and a society here that are prosperous beyond all imagination. This was how we lay the foundations of governance and law and this, as I've said, was how we created powerful authorities that operate as required separately from one another. We must strictly safeguard these important foundations. On this festive day it is only proper that we recall that the power of the legislature is part of a necessary and broader system of checks and balances. Let me underscore, not only has change possible, there are places where change is proper and desirable. It is allowed and sometimes even required to reopen for debate and the division of powers and authorities between the various branches of government which balance each other. However, we must do so by listening with open dialogue through respectful discourse and fairly. This is of course a mission that confronts all three branches of government, legislature, executive and judiciary, which must be attentive to each other while at the same time remaining committed to our collective vision as a people and state. Even at moments of the deepest and most destabilizing disagreement, which you will surely yet experience here in the plenum, I ask you, ladies and gentlemen, not to forget the words of the Book of Proverbs, deaths and life are in the power of the tongue, and will them also not to forget that these branches, the branches of the Israeli state, are not amorphous institutions or imaginary entities but are made up of people, human beings, public sector workers, public servants, elected officials. I ask all of us, leaders, emissaries and representatives of the public to make a special effort to maintain the dignity of those who dedicate their lives to serving our people and our state. IDF soldiers and commanders, doctors and nurses, police officers and prison wardens, principals and teachers, attorneys and judges, and many other social workers and devoted public servants who are working day by day, hour by hour, the devoted general public with a sense of duty and commitment to their mission. It is permissible to criticize them all, those that you are obligated to oversee, but please, do so respectfully and responsibly. I pray from here for the well-being of all those who serve our people and our country, and I pray that we all know days of peace, security and prosperity. Together with the whole Israeli public, I pray for the return of our sons, Hadar Golden and Oron Sha'ul, who fought the defense of our homeland and have never returned, and for Averaman Gistu and Hisham Asaid, citizens of the state of Israel held in captivity, along with all those missing from Israel's wars. I wish to pray for the full recovery of all injured IDF soldiers, physically and psychologically, and for all of Israel's sick, and I would like to embrace the bereaved families. At this podium in the heart of our people's eternal capital, I also wish to send my wishes to our brothers and sisters across the diaspora, following us from all communities around the world, their eyes gazing toward us with love for Israel. You are important to us, and we are important to you. The bonds between us are unbreakable. Dear members of the 25th Knesset of the State of Israel, I wish to end my remarks by quoting the third president, Zalman Shazar, who said during the inauguration of this Knesset building here in the national quarter, on the gates of this lofty abode will be etched in invisible yet eternal letters. The foundational principles of human democracy inscribed on our oldest treasures since our earliest days as a people, namely one constitution for foreigners and citizens alike, not following a crowd to do evil, saving the oppressed from their oppressors, letting your kin live by your side. Justice, justice you shall pursue, and the earth shall be full of knowledge. On behalf of the Israeli people, I congratulate each and every one of you, members of the 25th Knesset, and wish you and all sections of this house great success. As you embark on your journey in the service of us all, your success is our success. Good luck, and God bless you. Distinguished Speaker of Knesset, Member of Knesset, Miki Levie, I would like to invite you to pledge allegiance. I hereby pledge allegiance to the State of Israel and to fulfill faithfully my role in the Knesset. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to give you the management of this meeting. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, President of the State of Israel, Knesset Secretary, who is now reciting the words of the President of the State of Israel. Live from Jerusalem, you are watching the swearing in ceremony of the 25th Israeli Knesset in Parliament right now. You have just heard President Isaac Herzog addressing the 120 members of Parliament. We are expecting to hear very shortly from Parliament Speaker Nikki Levy and when that happens we will go back to Jerusalem. We heard President Isaac Herzog talking about the power of Israeli democracy saying the Israeli public has had its say. He also offered his deep grief to those affected by the terror attack in Ariel in recent hours saying to those who will have us divided you shall not succeed not by terror or foolish endeavors from abroad. He says the country's domestic arguments reflect the country's democracy and resilience. Also talking about the upcoming 75th celebration for the independence of the country and alluding to the fact that the country is exhausted by infighting. Talking about the need for unity. President Isaac Herzog addressing the Parliament just moments ago. When we are expecting Speaker of Parliament Nikki Levy to speak very shortly with me, Eli Hachenberg, these kind of ceremonies involve speeches, a time of unity, a message expected from the President. This is the allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the State of Israel and to fulfill my role in the Knesset faithfully. I will now ask the Parliament Secretary to say the names of the elected members of Knesset and upon being called by name each will say I do pledge. Go ahead. We are watching a live ceremony here in Jerusalem. Eli Hachenberg talked us through what we are watching right now as each name is called out individually. Yes, this is going to take a little while going one by one, one to 20 lawmakers, alphabetical order. And if we're looking at this day, not just in the context of the political bickering, let it be in the frameworks of the efforts to form a coalition or to form a coherent opposition even though they don't need to do anything to actually sit in the opposition eventually we'll have to find a way to work together after all the bad blood I wouldn't say during campaigning but in the aftermath of campaigning rather the blame game. But if we're talking about the formation of Parliament itself, so first of all in terms of the characteristics we're going to see far less women this time around after a historic record of female representation. And I suspect that if we can name, I would dare to say semi-failure of the so-called unity coalition that was formed not so long ago is that the grace and honor and the importance of being a public representative, of being a lawmaker, of being a public servant was not restored. The so-called extended Norwegian law that allowed lawmakers to resign and become ministers and deputy ministers without a portfolio once again overshadowed the role of being quote unquote a simple lawmaker of actually changing the reality here in Israel by being a public servant by representing the public desire and in this respect because of the very dire or violent political climate we're not seeing many cooperations between lawmakers themselves regardless of their political standing. You know for so many years the ultra-orthodox parties for example and the Arab parties had so much in common when we talk about social agenda and this also takes us, we haven't even discussed that yet, the role of finance, of who will be the finance minister at the moment the political discourse suggests either are you dairy of the ultra-orthodox just party that if indeed happens will become the first ultra-orthodox to be finance minister or the far-right religionism but if we're talking about their financial agenda their economic outlook they could not be any more different smart which is essentially a libertarian to an extent our area socialist so they are on the same page when we're talking about the political spectrum but if we're talking policy not necessarily and on the flip side of it policy-wise lawmakers from across the board are failing time and again to cooperate on civil issues on social issues that are important for Israeli citizens and not just Israeli political creatures let's put it that way. And Dan Ariadari himself comes with his own set of problems if he were to become finance minister. Ariadari would not be just the first ultra-orthodox finance minister. He would be the first former jailbird ex-con finance minister who has been convicted of embezzlement it's completely ridiculous what we're headed towards and Ellie's very right that there's no sense of potential cooperation between the various sides it's not just in Israel all over the world politics has become so toxic probably driven by social media that we see mostly hatred and very little prospect for collaboration. You mentioned earlier that the left had really battled to be unified leading up to this election unlike the right what is the opposition look like going forward given that fraction and the tension there. I think the opposition in Israel is united against a government that will further the disaster with the ultra-orthodox that will probably bring about conflict with the Palestinians and that will badly undermine the rule of law by by enacting authoritarian policies like the override clause that will basically eliminate judicial oversight democracy is more than the dictatorship of the majority that's a bunch of principles that need to be maintained my point is they I think on a policy level they are united united in their horror what is to come however the shock of having somehow managed to bumble this election which I don't think was expected but was eminently predictable because of how incompetently they ran a campaign that has created so much bad one between Gantz and Lapid and the Arabs and the soft right all of them are we'll be blaming each other for many months to come and I have difficulty seeing Yair Lapid who is blamed by everyone for not having sort of corralled everyone into something competent the way Netanyahu did as really being a unit the head of a unified opposition I think they'll be fractured in fairness to your ear Lapid and you know far be it from me to defend him feel free but just in response to what you said in fairness to Lapid he was faced with a situation that if he had to rally as you said you know make labor and merits join forces and the Arab parties join forces he did try to do that and he tried to get ballad out of the way to make the other two Arab parties more kosher and not only Arab Hadas is not just Arab it's more like the commune it's the Israeli and Arab Jewish Arab far left party but he was trying to make them more kosher by eliminating the far Islamist ballad it didn't work in fairness right but in fairness to him if what he was looking at was either saying okay what we are as a far left what we're joining forces with anti Zionists and it's the only way we'll be able to even tie with the Netanyahu camp then my best bet well and or when the anti Zionists want to join a coalition is as well only some of them no no no only very few of them the point the point being that he saw the situation as I said in defense of Lapid as a politician by the way not as a good guy he saw the situation for what it was and realized that his best bet was to have a situation where Netanyahu could not form a coalition and at least then he would remain Prime Minister in the interim for as long as it's not far off if one of the left-wing parties that cross the patrol patrol the discussion we have now was of here Lapid as the new savvy politician in town exactly so my point is that it wasn't a mistake on his part but and again here's somebody else said I don't normally tend to quote or defend he don't levy from Aritz who's a far left person who doesn't he and I are in the opposite sides of the spectrum but one thing he's been saying and it actually rings true from his point of view the the reason there is no tie supposed tie in Israeli society is that Israeli society really is right wing and the other than if you remove the anybody but Netanyahu people out of there are many of them are actually right wingers who moved aside because they hate Netanyahu so you have many of those and what he said is actually the trouble his argument is the trouble with his Israeli society is that a serious majority is on the right so I think these labels of left and right are a little bit anachronistic and all over the world not just in Israel the right is redefining itself before our very eyes and people who used to be left-wing and socialist are now on right because of cultural issues the real divide in Israel is between people who fundamentally are in favor of liberal democracy and that would have included in the past the good Prime Minister is like they can it's not maybe not many the others but then it rings some bells and the context of the midterm I'm going to stop you make he levy is about to speak we will continue that soon members of Knesset former and present and family members state controller governor of the Bank of Israel professor Amiri Iran chief of police Kobe Shabtai governor of the Israel police prison service Katy Perry to be Al Caspi distinguished guests heads of the foreign representations in Israel heads of the religious factions in Israel distinguished guests we have now heard the one hundred one hundred and twenty two read by Moishi Holtzberg son of Rivka Holtzberg who were the Mumbai missaries who were murdered 14 years ago in the atrocious terror attack in the Habad house Moishi read the Zom out of the Zom book with which his parents prayed and has survived the attack as Moishi represents the connection between the past and present and our nation's hope of a better world and there is no one better to stand here in this holy moment in which the new Knesset is being sworn in a Knesset that represents our sovereignty in Israel and in itself represents in the most distilled form the desire of the people as reflected by free democratic elections. Unfortunately today too we stand witness to yet another terror attack that seeks to harm us and seeks to kill innocent only because they are Jewish Jews. On behalf of myself and the entire parliament I would like to send my condolences to the families of the victims in the Ariel terror attack and I pray that the injured will speedily recover we will continue to persecute all who carry out attacks wherever is necessary. Distinguished guests I have been in this parliament for almost a decade decade since I was elected for the 19th Knesset and I filled various positions from my experience I would like to say with great pain that the former Knesset was a low point in Israel's history the discourse was abusive they they did not accept and respect those who elected and all rules of the game were broken swearing in of a new Knesset is a time for parliament speaker micky levy speaking right now in Jerusalem we are going to leave that ceremony just for a short while we're going live now back to our middle east correspond