Largest Arab alliance Joint List backs Eisenkot to form next Israeli government

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THE Joint List announced today it is recommending opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot be tasked with forming the next Israeli government.

The decision by the largest alliance of Arab parties, which won 11 Knesset seats in last month’s election, gives Mr Eisenkot the lead over incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu in parliamentary support. President Isaac Herzog will ask the candidate he deems most likely to be able to assemble a majority to try to form a government, with that candidate then given 28 days to do it.

The other main Palestinian party in Israel, Ra’am, had already recommended Mr Herzog approach Mr Eisenkot.

The 19 seats held by the Arab parties hold the balance of power in the Knesset, in which the Netanyahu and anti-Netanyahu blocs are each short of a majority. The Joint List alliance includes Hadash, itself an alliance led by the Communist Party of Israel, the country’s only party with both Jewish and Palestinian members.

But recommending Mr Eisenkot be given the chance to form a government leaves a lot of difficult negotiation ahead. A majority of the parties backing Mr Eisenkot are themselves pledged against working with Arab parties, and support the continued occupation and illegal settlement of Palestine.

That process continued today, with armed settlers taking over eight Palestinian homes near Jericho. Locals said the incursions, with the resident families forced out and doors battered down, were co-ordinated with the Israeli army. It denied this.

Mr Herzog has declared he accepts the elections’ legitimacy, setting back Mr Netanyahu’s attempt to claim it was “stolen” by the Arab parties, whose advance was down to unusually high turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel. 

The Netanyahu camp is alleging foreign interference, and on Wednesday alleged that Hadash MP Ayman Odeh had received “hundreds of thousands of shekels from a foreign entity.” 

Mr Odeh retorted: “The historic turnout of Arab citizens has driven Netanyahu and the fascists crazy, and the fear of losing power is causing them to shoot in all directions. It is clear to everyone that this is political persecution, which is quickly going to turn into an inflated balloon that will burst right in their faces.

“As we get closer to the Knesset swearing-in date and the end of Netanyahu’s rule, you will see more and more spin and lies.”