jordan pulse -

​AMMAN
​The Israeli opposition bloc, led by Gadi Eisenkot, pledged on Tuesday to form a government as quickly as possible to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, the bloc has yet to clarify the mechanism for achieving this goal amid sharp internal disagreements regarding potential alliances with representatives of Arab parties.
​Leaders of the five parties comprising the opposition bloc convened at a hotel in Herzliya to consult on the next phase, marking their first gathering since the elections held on October 27, which yielded an inconclusive result regarding a guaranteed Knesset majority to form a government.
​In a joint statement, opposition leaders stated that their objective is to assemble a government "as quickly as possible and prevent dragging Israel into new elections."
​The leaders reaffirmed their adherence to four principles outlined by Eisenkot, including the requirement that any party participating in the government recognize Israel as a Jewish state and condemn Hamas as a "terrorist organization"—conditions that could effectively exclude certain Arab lawmakers from joining the government.
​The statement noted that the leaders "agreed on the necessity of forming a Zionist government at the earliest opportunity, based on the four principles specified by Eisenkot."
​Israeli media reports indicated that opposition leaders gave preference to constructing a coalition with ultra-Orthodox Jewish religious parties—traditionally supporters of Netanyahu—over allying with Arab parties.
​Neither competing camp—Netanyahu's right-wing coalition (holding 53 seats, including 27 for his Likud party) nor the bloc led by Eisenkot (holding 48 seats)—obtained a majority, leaving the selection of the figure designated to form the government uncommitted.
​Potential Majority via Arab Lawmakers
​Arab lawmakers could potentially provide the requisite parliamentary majority for Eisenkot.
​The Joint List and the United Arab List (Ra'am) achieved a historic result by securing 19 seats out of 120 in the Knesset, driven by high turnout among Arab voters.
​Despite divergent stances among Eisenkot bloc leaders on multiple issues, including the role of Arab MPs, all announced their support for him to lead the next government.
​Former right-wing prime minister Naftali Bennett, whose party placed third, told reporters: "We have no time; we must act very quickly," affirming his endorsement of Eisenkot.
​Pre-election opinion polls revealed a split among Jewish Israeli opposition supporters regarding the inclusion of Arab parties in government, while right-wing Israelis strongly oppose this option.
​Youssef Jabareen, leader of the Joint List, stated on Monday that the opposition must accept the "political reality" and cooperate with his list to succeed in ousting Netanyahu.
​This alliance is championed primarily by Yair Golan, leader of the leftist Democrats party, who explicitly backed an alliance with Arab parties, describing their exclusion as racist.
​Golan met with leaders of the Arab parties under the Joint List, pledging that his party would work to address high crime rates in Arab towns—a paramount issue facing the Arab community—alongside working toward achieving "prosperity and equality."
​Conversely, Avigdor Lieberman, a right-wing member of Eisenkot's bloc, strongly opposes involving Arab parties in government, despite maintaining his desire to avoid repeat elections.
​Allegations of Electoral Fraud
​Throughout the electoral campaign and following the announcement of results, Netanyahu consistently targeted Arab parties, accusing them of fraud and "stealing the election," while portraying them as a threat to Israel's existence.
​In this context, Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara requested on Tuesday that the domestic security agency (Shin Bet) brief her on the findings of investigations into alleged voter fraud involving Arab parties, emphasizing that no evidence supporting such claims has been presented.
​This development followed a request by Shin Bet chief David Zini to interrogate leaders of Arab parties as part of an investigation into fraud suspicions, according to Israeli media outlets.
​Baharav-Miara stated: "Anyone who needs to be questioned will be questioned, but no one will be subjected to investigation without grounds and evidence justifying it." The Likud party responded by accusing her of "obstructing the investigation."
​For his part, Eisenkot accused Netanyahu of executing a "massacre against democracy."
​Netanyahu had stated in a social media message on Monday that he was "open to dialogue," calling for the formation of a broad government coalition under his leadership, while maintaining his rejection of Arab party participation in any governing coalition.
​The opposition bloc issued no public response to Netanyahu's proposal on Monday.
​Source: AFP / Rum News Agency