Israeli caretaker prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday urged Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar Party to enter a unity government, saying a government that relies on support from Arab parties will not be able to confront the Iranian threat. However, Eisenkot rejected the appeal as “yet another spin move”.
In a video statement posted on X, Netanyahu said he had an important conversation with Eisenkot, adding that they have known each other for a long time, even before the latter’s tenure as the IDF’s chief of staff.
“This meeting only strengthened my understanding of how essential it is at this time to establish a national unity government, a government that will include all the parties that support the existence of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people, and that will be able to meet the immense and complex security challenges ahead of us,” he said.
‘Let’s put aside all differences’
Netanyahu alleged that the Iranian regime was working to revive its nuclear programme to be used against Israel and stressed the importance of removing “this existential threat once and for all.”
He said a minority government or a coalition that relies on “supporters of terrorism”, referring to Arab parties, will not be able to achieve this goal, but a unity government can safeguard Israel’s security for many years.
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“Gadi, instead of trying to establish a shaky and dangerous government that will be unable to meet, even in part, the immense security and national challenges before us, let us do what is called for. Let us enter the room, without preconditions, set aside all our disagreements and all our boycotts, and reach agreements for Israel’s security and future, including on the issue of conscription, which can be resolved together,” he added.
In contrast to his previous calls for a unity government, Netanyahu did not specify that he must lead such a government. This came after his coalition lost its parliamentary majority in last month’s election, and President Isaac Herzog gave Eisenkot the mandate to form a government last week.
Eisenkot rejects Netanyahu’s proposal
Meanwhile, Eisenkot rejected Netanyahu’s call to negotiate, describing it as “yet another spin move.” He said the Likud and Yashar negotiating teams had scheduled a meeting for Sunday before Netanyahu’s statement.
“My Israeli brothers and sisters, this is the latest bluff. Netanyahu calls for negotiations after they have already been scheduled, claims he wants unity, but disgraces a state ceremony in the Knesset and divides and incites as if there were no tomorrow. Nice try, but these tricks don’t work on me, and they don’t work on the citizens of Israel either,” he said in a post on X.
Eisenkot said Netanyahu’s party Likud could join an emergency government he would lead only with “recognition of the principles I have laid out and a break with the extremists”, in an apparent reference to far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party.
He further remarked that Netanyahu knew he had lost the election and there was an “overwhelming majority” against him among the citizens of Israel and in the Knesset, which is why he was trying to obstruct a new government’s formation.
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According to a Channel 13 report, Yashar is planning to offer Likud a chance to join a unity government, led only by Eisenkot, which would involve a framework that allows Netanyahu to deal with political, security and other personal matters. The Religious Zionist Party led by Bezalel Smotrich would also be invited to join the coalition.
The bloc of opposition parties is keen to replace the Speaker in a crucial vote on Tuesday to take control of the parliamentary agenda.
“If they (Likud and Religious Zionism) are indeed committed to genuine political partnership, as they claim, they must allow a proper democratic process to take place on schedule and instruct their Knesset members to support the appointment of Matan Kahana, a former lieutenant colonel, squadron commander and Sayeret Matkal commando, as Knesset speaker,” Eisenkot said in his post.