The leader of the far-left Joint List, one of Israel’s Arab-majority lists, has called for a “genuine Jewish-Arab partnership” to help remove Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Anyone who wants to offer a substantive and genuine alternative to Netanyahu’s blood-soaked government will have to talk to us to secure the path to the change that the public in Israel longs for,” Yousef Jabareen told Israeli media.
“We will know how to use our political strength to advance the values we believe in,” Jabareen said.
“We are ready to pave the way for the replacement of the government of Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir and [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich — and send them home.”
After most votes have been counted from Tuesday’s election, the conservative Islamist Ra’am party and the Joint List are projected to win a combined 19 seats in the 120-member Knesset.
As neither the pro-Netanyahu bloc nor the opposition bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot seem likely to win a majority, the Arab parties could play a key role in the formation of the next government.
Right-wing Jewish parties in Israel have traditionally refused to cooperate with Arab parties, and Netanyahu said on Wednesday doing so would be “treasonous.”
However, at least one opposition party is open to the idea, with the leader of the left-leading Democrats, Yair Golan, saying Wednesday he supported bringing Arab-led parties into a coalition.
Source: www.dw.com
