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Netanyahu Demands Unity Government, Says Arab Parties Must Be Excluded
By Maya Wilson
Maya Wilson
Maya Wilson leads The Library Media’s World Desk.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, serving as caretaker prime minister while a new government is being formed, demanded a unity government in a speech at the Knesset on Tuesday and said Arab parties should not be included, The Times of Israel reported.
Netanyahu accused Arab members of the Knesset of wanting Israel’s destruction. “The Arab parties seek to destroy the Jewish state. They must not be part of a government,” he said, according to The Times of Israel.
The speech came on the day the 26th Knesset was sworn in, as former military chief Gadi Eisenkot works to form a government after President Isaac Herzog tasked him with the effort on Sunday.
Neither the bloc led by Eisenkot nor Netanyahu’s bloc commands the 61 seats needed for a majority in the Knesset, and Netanyahu remains caretaker prime minister in the meantime.
The arithmetic gives the question added significance: excluding the Arab parties narrows the possible combinations for reaching 61 seats. That is a matter of parliamentary arithmetic, and this report does not attribute a motive to Netanyahu.
The speech also came as the Eisenkot bloc began its work in the new Knesset. On its first day, the bloc submitted bills for a state inquiry into the Oct. 7 attacks and to undo the judicial overhaul.
The Times of Israel report did not include responses to the speech from Eisenkot, from the leadership of the Arab parties, or from other faction leaders. It also did not say whether any contact between the blocs about a unity government has actually taken place.
The full text of the speech was not available in the reporting.
With neither bloc holding a majority, the question of which parties could form a government remains open. No further reporting on the speech was included here.
— Maya Wilson, World Desk
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