Opposition leader Herzog: I will form Israel's next government

Labor leader says it is likely elections are on the way as current coalition faces crisis.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Isaac Herzog (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Isaac Herzog
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Opposition leader expressed his optimism on Saturday of becoming Israel's next prime minister.
The Labor party leader told Channel 10 that the next government could be formed under him after the next elections take place.
"I think that it is clear today that I present an alternative to Netanyahu," Herzog told Channel 10. "I believe that I will form the next government."
As the current coalition faces a crisis spurred by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's version of the so-called "Jewish state bill," Herzog said it was likely elections before those slated 2017 were approaching.
 
Herzog called for Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, Hatnua head Tzipi Livni and Kadima party leader Shaul Mofaz to join him to create a so-called combined centrist block under which he could approach President Reuven Rivlin to request to form the next government.
Earlier this week, Herzog called for Netanyahu's resignation and rebuked him saying, "only a prime minister lacking self-confidence needs a "Jewish state bill."
"You talk more and more and more about nationality in order to avoid addressing the inability of the public to afford buying a house," he charged at a Knesset plenum discussion Wednesday.
Herzog said that Netanyahu had failed in his efforts to prevent Iran's nuclear progress and had proven wanting in his promises to weaken Hamas.
Netanyahu has vowed that the bill that would define Israel as the Jewish national state will preserve the rights of all Israeli citizens, while critics argue that it will discriminate against the country's minorities, including its Arab citizens who make up nearly 20 percent of the population.