Netanyahu says ‘time for unity,’ warns against government backed by ‘Islamists’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night called for a unity government and warned that a coalition backed by “Islamists” will risk Israel’s survival, apparently referring to the 19 seats won by the Arab parties.

“As early as next week, there are those who intend to hastily swear in a government with supporters of terrorism,” Netanyahu said in an address delivered to the press in Hebrew.

Such a government would “dismantle the State of Israel from within, as is happening in European countries—and much worse,” he said.

The premier said that the Jewish state would experience worse riots than those recently seen in Paris and Brussels, adding, “These are not scare tactics. This is the reality we will face, and that is why we must stop it, because our very existence is at stake.”

He further stated that a national unity government, which includes “all the parties in the national camp and all the Zionist parties,” would permanently remove the nuclear threat from Iran and preserve Israel as a Jewish state, unlike a government dependent on Arab parties that would prevent it from fighting against Hamas and radical Islam.

“And so there is only one choice: not national suicide, but national unity,” Israel’s longest-serving prime minister said.

Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party later described Netanyahu’s speech as “hysterical.”

“The man who divided, tore apart and sowed discord in Israeli society is heard saying the word ‘unity’ only when he realizes his days in office are numbered,” the faction that secured 21 seats in the Oct. 27 election, compared with the 27 mandates won by Netanyahu’s Likud, said in a statement.

Yashar said that while unity is important, Netanyahu has “systematically” undermined it.

If Netanyahu and his allies distance themselves from the “extremists,” Yashar continued, presumably referring to the Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionist parties, they are welcome to join a unity government under Eisenkot’s premiership.

Yashar added that it will form a government only with those who accept Eisenkot’s four principles, including the commitment to destroying Hamas’s military and governing power.

Herzog to decide Sunday

Israeli President Isaac Herzog is expected to make a decision on Sunday on whom to task with forming Israel’s next government.

During consultations at the President’s Residence on Nov. 4-5, parties representing 67 incoming Knesset members recommended Eisenkot, while those with 46 lawmakers recommended Netanyahu out of the Israeli parliament’s 120 seats. The United Judaism Torah party’s seven lawmakers declined to recommend either candidate.

The 67 recommendations for Eisenkot do not amount to a prospective governing coalition. They include the 19 lawmakers from the Joint List (composed of three predominantly Arab factions) and Ra’am, another Arab party, while Avigdor Liberman, the chairman of Yisrael Beiteinu, has ruled out joining a government dependent on either Arab faction.

Herzog stressed on Thursday that the number of recommendations alone would not determine his decision, noting the mutual vetoes among and within the political blocs and the need to determine which candidate has the best chance of assembling a government.

On Friday, Liberman said that he is prepared to compromise on legislation governing haredi military conscription, marking a significant shift from his election campaign promises.

“The election results require all of us to recalculate our route and understand that there are no good alternatives or magic solutions before us,” Liberman wrote on X.

“In the political reality that has been created, national responsibility requires us to make difficult decisions and be prepared for painful compromises,” he said.

Liberman maintained three red lines: ending Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s tenure, avoiding another election and refusing to establish a government dependent on the abstention in votes of no-confidence of the Joint List or Ra’am.

Eisenkot calls not to thwart national government for ‘personal reasons’

Later on Friday, Eisenkot said in a Hebrew-language statement that Israel stands before “a true, tangible and dangerous state of emergency.”

He said that Netanyahu’s government threatens Israeli democracy while the war fronts remain open and subject to “political and personal whims.”

Eisenkot said that he is working with his partners behind the scenes to form “a national emergency government.” He said that he is hopeful the president will ask him to form Israel’s next government, to fulfill the “mandate the people have given me … with the utmost reverence and sense of responsibility.”

He then stated, “Anyone who tries to undermine and thwart the formation of the government for personal and irrelevant reasons will be remembered by history as someone who failed to rise to the occasion and did not act to save Israel in a time of emergency.”

The leader of the far-left The Democrats party, Yair Golan, tweeted on Saturday night that “Netanyahu’s government must be replaced.”

In a move to possibly soften opposition to a coalition with the haredi parties, Golan said that “we are not looking to punish the ultra-Orthodox.” He said that he seeks partnership with the ultra-Orthodox community that entails “mutual responsibility.”

He urged drafting haredi men into the military and expanding the integration of the haredi community into the workforce.

“Just as we respect the ultra-Orthodox way of life, we expect our way of life to be respected too. In our communities, it should be possible to go out for a night on the town on Shabbat, have a coffee, and, God forbid, even get there by public transport,” Golan said.