‘The people have decided’ - Protesters pressure Eisenkot to join Arab parties against Netanyahu
Key Takeaways
- Demonstrators gather outside his Herzliya home, demanding Jewish-Arab political cooperation.
- The opposition's 48 seats and Arab parties' combined 19 could provide a 67-seat majority.
- Eisenkot and other opposition leaders have previously rejected governing with Arab parties.
Demonstrators gathered outside Gadi Eisenkot's home, demanding Jewish-Arab political cooperation as Israel's opposition faces a choice over forming a government without Netanyahu.
Protesters have called on Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot to reconsider his position on working with Arab political parties, arguing that such cooperation could prevent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from forming another government.
Demonstrators gathered outside Eisenkot's home in Herzliya on Thursday, chanting slogans and displaying banners demanding a Jewish-Arab political partnership following Israel's inconclusive parliamentary election.
"The people have decided: Jewish-Arab partnership," protesters chanted.
Their demand followed the October 27 election, which left Netanyahu's political bloc with 53 seats and the four main opposition parties with 48.
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Neither side secured the 61 seats required for a majority in Israel's 120-member Knesset.
However, the Arab-led Joint List won 11 seats, while Ra'am secured eight, giving the two parties a combined 19 seats.
Their support would raise the opposition's parliamentary numbers to 67, enough for a majority if the parties agreed to cooperate.
Despite the potential majority, several opposition leaders have rejected the possibility of forming a government with Arab parties.
Eisenkot, whose Yashar party emerged as the largest opposition party with 21 seats, had also ruled out including Ra'am in a government led by him during the election campaign.
The position has become a focus of the demonstrations, with protesters urging opposition leaders to reconsider their differences.
Similar gatherings were reported in Jerusalem and Haifa, where demonstrators called for cooperation between Jewish and Arab political parties to replace Netanyahu.
Such an arrangement would not be without precedent.
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In 2021, Ra'am joined the governing coalition formed by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, marking an example of Jewish-Arab cooperation in Israel's national government.
The latest demonstrations have placed renewed attention on Eisenkot and other opposition leaders as they consider their options following the election.
Although the combined opposition and Arab parties hold enough seats for a parliamentary majority, disagreements over political cooperation remain an obstacle to forming a government.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
