Several ministers of the Executive led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have tried to downplay the relevance of the celebrations of the opposition bloc after the first exit polls of the elections held this Tuesday in Israel were known, and have issued warnings about the possible weight of the Arab parties in the configuration of the next Government.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gideon Saar, a member of Likud, has pointed out on social media that "the celebrations on the left are premature" and has described as "ridiculous" the "arrogance of biased commentators." Saar has tried to cool the enthusiasm of the opposition bloc, led by former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, emphasizing that, despite the bad omens reflected in the exit polls, "one thing seems quite clear: Likud is the largest party in Israel."
On the other hand, the Minister of the Diaspora, Amichai Chikli, also from Likud, has directed his criticisms at the Arab parties, whose support is shaping up to be decisive for Eisenkot to achieve the parliamentary majority after, according to projections, doubling the results obtained in 2022. Chikli has lashed out at the Supreme Court for authorizing the participation in the elections of parties that, in his view, "deny the right to the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state" or "support armed struggle."
"If the leaders of the left choose an alliance with supporters of terrorism, Israel will de facto cease to be a Zionist state and will become a binational state," Chikli has warned, alerting to the political consequences that, in his opinion, an eventual pact with those formations would have.
In an even more forceful tone, the Minister of Finance and leader of the far-right Religious Zionist Party, Bezalel Smotrich, has issued a direct threat in the face of the unprecedented advance of the Joint List and the United Arab List (Raam), to which projections grant between 16 and 18 seats.
"I can see on some screens that the Arabs are celebrating tonight. So I tell you and them: We will not let them celebrate," Smotrich has stated in remarks reported by the Israeli newspaper 'Haaretz'. The Finance Minister has insisted that "they will not succeed" if they believe they can "reverse the settlement revolution in Judea and Samaria (West Bank)," and has entrusted the political outcome of his bloc to "the votes of the soldiers," convinced that they will be decisive in obtaining the seats they lack.