Netanyahu Pushes Exclusionary Coalition That Shuts Out Arab Parties
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pressing for a broad government that would exclude Arab-majority parties, even as his Likud party claims a plurality in a fragmented election. The move underscores a political strategy built on division rather than inclusion.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the creation of a broad national government that would exclude Arab-majority parties, insisting that his Likud party, which secured 27 of the 53 seats won by his camp, should dominate the next coalition. "A clear majority of the Jewish public chose Likud as the largest party and chose me, as prime minister, to lead the next government," he said in a statement posted on Likud's Telegram channel. Netanyahu added that the coalition would be open only to any party that does not support terrorism, language that critics say is being used to narrow political participation and deepen ethnic and political exclusion.
Opposition leaders, headed by Gadi Eisenkot, are scheduled to meet on Tuesday in Herzliya to coordinate their next steps after the election produced no clear majority. Eisenkot's bloc, which won 48 seats, has pledged to back him as prime minister, while internal debates continue over whether to seek support from Arab parties. Some opposition figures, such as Yair Golan of the Democrats, favor cooperation with Arab lists, whereas Avigdor Lieberman of Yisrael Beiteinu opposes it, reflecting the continuing pressure to choose between pragmatic coalition-building and exclusionary politics.
Arab-majority parties, which together hold a record 19 seats, have condemned the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, but have not uniformly accepted the label of a terror group. The Raam party leader has recognized Israel as a Jewish state, a stance not shared by all Arab leaders, highlighting the range of positions within the bloc despite efforts to portray it as monolithic.
President Isaac Herzog is expected to begin consultations with party representatives on Wednesday. He has seven days to nominate a candidate to form a government, after which the nominee has up to 28 days, extendable by 14 days, to assemble a coalition. Failure to do so could trigger a second nomination round or, ultimately, new elections, prolonging a deadlock that leaves the country trapped between competing blocs.