President Rivlin supports unity government

Israeli president Reuven Rivlin's done something good today, recommending that there be a unity government:

Likud representatives told Rivlin that they are recommending Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to receive the mandate. "When we began these elections we asked the public for a mandate to form a right-wing government with our partners in the previous government," Minister Levin told Rivlin. "We have to make every effort to reconcile what we wanted, what we presented to the public and reality."

Rivlin responded that "the people of Israel want a government that will be stable and be capable of leading the state. As an Israeli citizen, I feel that the only way to prevent [another] election is the ability of the two large parties - which are almost equal in size - to join forces and form a government."

Considering the dreadful situation Avigdor Lieberman's led to, that's why it's a good thing Rivlin's thought of this. Interestingly enough, while much of the Joint Arab List decided this time to support Gantz, the Balad faction did not:

While the Joint List made history on Sunday evening when its leader, Ayman Odeh, recommended Gantz for prime minister in its meeting with Rivlin, Blue and White officials downplayed the endorsement, because Balad’s three MKs did not endorse anyone, leaving Netanyahu with a majority of recommendations. Yisrael Beytenu did not recommend anyone.

Even if Lieberman didn't, that still doesn't make his stunts of recent acceptable. And indeed, they're not. But what's transpired now is mostly a good thing, though it still remains to be seen how this is going to turn out.