Israel Prez Rivlin expresses 'deep shame' at political situation

JERUSALEM: A worried Israeli President Reuven Rivlin expressed a feeling of "deep shame" while voting on Monday for a third time in less than a year in elections that have failed to end the political crisis in the country.

In the third parliamentary elections, the country's longest serving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting for his political survival amid indictments on graft charges.

Neither Netanyahu, who heads the right-wing Likud party, nor his main challenger, Benny Gantz -- leader of the Blue and White alliance -- were able to put together majority coalitions following the last two elections.

This is normally a festive day, but the truth is that I don't feel like celebrating. I only feel a sense of deep shame when I face you, my fellow citizens, Rivlin said after casting his vote at the Yefe Nof school in Jerusalem.

We just don't deserve this. We don't deserve another awful and grubby election campaign like the one that ends today and we don't deserve this never-ending instability. We deserve a government that works for us, the Israeli President said.

And so, he said urging, I ask you to go and vote. Every vote is the right one. Every vote is your voice. Go out and make it heard. I very much hope that we meet again only in 2024, or at least that I won't see another election campaign as President of the country that is so dear to us all." "I have an uneasy feeling, shame even," said Rivlin prior to casting his vote.