Israeli Prime Minister rules out coalition government with Zionist Union

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out the formation of a coalition government between his Likud party and its rival Zionist Union alliance following the parliamentary polls, due on Tuesday.

“Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has neither the ability nor the jurisdiction to impose a coalition government,” Israeli Army radio quoted Netanyahu as saying on Sunday.

“I personally won’t be part of a coalition government as it destined to fail,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying.

Last week, Rivlin urged 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.

The Israeli president said that the country must avoid a politically unstable situation where fresh elections are held nearly every two years.

He also asserted that in the case of a near tie between competing parties, he plans to work on cobbling together a coalition government that would be tasked with changing the electoral system in Israel.

Israelis are due to elect a new parliament on Tuesday 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