Politics and Knesset
Knesset speaker disqualifies Joint Arab List MKs’ oaths of office due to altered wording after each lawmaker vows: “I pledge to fight the [Israeli] occupation, racism and apartheid.”
Consultations with all Knesset factions indicate that no candidate has a “realistic chance” of assembling a coalition, says Reuven Rivlin.
Former Knesset member Ibrahim Sarsur welcomed home Rushdi Hamdan Abu Mukh, who was released from prison after serving 35 years for the 1984 murder of an Israeli soldier.
One of its stated goals is “teaching and learning about the Holocaust: Education for a world without genocide ever again.”
It calls for a national directorate to counter foreign influence and the amendment of a government resolution on women’s rights • Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid: “No sane prime minister could allow such a thing.”
“For 30 years, we’ve tried the path of isolationism, and it hasn’t gotten us anywhere. It’s time for a change,” says a senior member of the Arab-Israeli party.
“We call on members of the national camp to set aside their differences. Israel needs a solid, cohesive right-wing government,” says party leader Bezalel Smotrich.
The New Hope Party leader must end his “foolish” boycott of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Likud officials say, as Yesh Atid enters coalition talks with Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas.
Notwithstanding a major political development, it appears that Israel will head to an unprecedented fifth round of elections this summer.
The American Jewish Committee expressed concern “about those on the other end of the political spectrum who deny Israel’s very right to exist, even as they are elected via Israel’s democratic system, and embrace such terror groups as Hamas.”
“Proponents of terrorism who deny Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state are not legitimate partners in any government,” says Betzalel Smotrich.
According to the survey, the most qualified candidate for prime minister in the Arab sector is Benjamin Netanyahu, with 24.9 percent support, followed by Ahmad Tibi of the Joint Arab List with 14.3 percent.
