Israel’s acting prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has once again defended the formation of a national unity government this Tuesday after launching harsh criticism against Arab parties. At the same time, opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot has reiterated the urgency of removing him from office after describing his intervention as “delirious, divisive, full of hatred, and shameful.”
During the inaugural session of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, held after the elections of October 27, Netanyahu used his turn to speak to attack Arab parties and those who consider striking a deal with them, citing the threat, in his view, that Iran continues to represent.
In his speech, he called on parliamentary groups that “we must do one thing in this Chamber: put aside any other consideration and form a national unity government,” directly pointing to the forces of the Eisenkot bloc for valuing a coalition supported by Arab lawmakers, whom he described as “supporters of terrorism who hate Israel.”
Netanyahu has thus urged these formations to clarify whether they are willing to “depend on people whose goal is the destruction of the Jewish State.” “Are these the people whose hands they would trust with the fate of our country? Do you prefer them over the Zionist parties that represent an enormous sector of the Zionist population?”, he asked before the chamber.
Meanwhile, the head of the opposition has lashed out on social media at the prime minister’s combative tone, repeating that his intervention has been “delirious, divisive, full of hatred and shameful,” and lamenting that he has taken advantage of the Knesset opening event—a ceremony of a primarily protocol nature—to send this kind of message. “I was even more convinced that he is not fit to continue in office for even one more minute. We must act urgently to form a national emergency government,” he stressed.
Eisenkot added that the continued tenure of the executive led by Netanyahu “divides Israel and puts its security at risk,” referring in his message to his political partners Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid, Yair Golan, and Avigdor Lieberman, whom he mentions as part of the bloc that aims for a change of leadership.
In this context, the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, has also taken advantage of the inaugural session to ask the new Knesset, from the ballot boxes, to "fulfill in full its term of office" and thereby avoid another election. He has recalled that "there are many tasks ahead of it. Almost 80% of the population went to the polls and elected them. They must do everything possible to prevent the elections from being repeated."
Herzog has stressed that Israeli citizens "yearn for normality, security and tranquility" and aspire to "to see an outstretched hand that brings unity to the nation and hope." In his view, "a people that carries within it pain, dedication and sacrifice hopes to see how you transform those strengths into cooperation, into a dialogue that brings together, and into the ability to listen," and so he has urged the parties to act with restraint and a willingness to reach agreement to achieve broad commitments.