Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, who is slated to remain in the role until a new government can be formed, is willing to share the job in a rotation agreement doing so would "allow a new government to be formed," he said in an interview to Israel Radio on Thursday.
Discussing the swearing-in ceremony for the 22nd Knesset, scheduled to take place at 4 p.m. Thursday, Edelstein said, "there is a sense of celebration, but I agree that this isn't like previous Knessets, where we arrived ready to work for a few years. I'm still hopeful this Knesset won't be the shortest one in history. There is still a sense of excitement, certainly among the new MKs."
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Edelstein also touched on the efforts to establish a unity government, saying that it was a shame Blue and White had rejected a "daring" proposal from President Reuven Rivlin "for reasons of their own."
"The Likud wants to form a government and not get dragged into a third election, he said."
"The prime minister is doing everything he can to avoid an election. I was disappointed that we didn't see a similar response from the other side. The Likud shouldn't put forth another candidate after [Benny] Gantz fails … Even if there is no indictment [against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu], I doubt that a government would be formed," he said.
Later Thursday, the 120 MKs will be sworn in at a special session of the Knesset plenum, with President Rivlin in attendance. Dignitaries expected to attend include Supreme Court justices, senior IDF and Israel Police officials, and diplomats.
The celebration takes place only five months after the opening session of the 21st Knesset, elected on April 9. The question of whether the MKs will serve for four years or disperse to hold an election in early 2020 remains unanswered.
A new Knesset speaker will not be elected until a government is formed. Until that time, Edelstein will maintain his post.
Since the Knesset was first founded, a total of 994 MKs have been elected – 854 men and 140 women. MKs serve an average of slightly more than two terms.
The 21st Knesset saw the largest number of "freshmen" legislators (49), in contrast to the 22nd Knesset, in which only eight representatives are new.
With each Knesset, the number of Israeli-born legislators increases. Less than 3% of the representatives who served in the temporary governing council established immediately after the state was founded were born here. The first Knesset included 13.3% native-born Israelis. By the time the fourth Knesset was sworn in that number had grown to 19.2%. Fewer than half (47.7%) of the MKs in the 10th Knesset were native-born Israelis.
However, 86.7% of the 20th Knesset were "natives," meaning 104 out of its 120 MKs had been born in Israel.
