+ A
A -
DPA
Tel Aviv
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday warned Israeli security would be in danger if his centrist rival Benny Gantz formed a minority government backed by Arab lawmakers.
“It cannot be that the security of Israel depends on [Arab lawmakers] Ayman Odeh, Ahmed Tibi and their friends” on the Joint List Arab alliance, Netanyahu said in a video published on social media. “This is a danger to the security of Israel.” Netanyahu, of the right-wing Likud party, spoke as Gantz, of the Blue and White party, had four days left to form a government.
The stalemate following September’s general election has made the task of forming a government is a challenging one, as currently neither Gantz nor Netanyahu has the required majority to form a government.
On Saturday Netanyahu said it would undermine the country’s security for an Israeli prime minister to have to ask Arab lawmakers in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, for approval to launch a pre-emptive military strike.
“Can anyone even imagine such a thing, something that has never happened in the history of Israel, something that will pose an immediate, existential threat to the state of Israel?” Joint List head Odeh responded that Netanyahu was “cynical” and “desperate” to hang onto power. Netanyahu called on Gantz to form a unity government between his Likud, which won 32 seats, and Blue and White, which won 33, in the September 17 elections.
Tel Aviv
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday warned Israeli security would be in danger if his centrist rival Benny Gantz formed a minority government backed by Arab lawmakers.
“It cannot be that the security of Israel depends on [Arab lawmakers] Ayman Odeh, Ahmed Tibi and their friends” on the Joint List Arab alliance, Netanyahu said in a video published on social media. “This is a danger to the security of Israel.” Netanyahu, of the right-wing Likud party, spoke as Gantz, of the Blue and White party, had four days left to form a government.
The stalemate following September’s general election has made the task of forming a government is a challenging one, as currently neither Gantz nor Netanyahu has the required majority to form a government.
On Saturday Netanyahu said it would undermine the country’s security for an Israeli prime minister to have to ask Arab lawmakers in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, for approval to launch a pre-emptive military strike.
“Can anyone even imagine such a thing, something that has never happened in the history of Israel, something that will pose an immediate, existential threat to the state of Israel?” Joint List head Odeh responded that Netanyahu was “cynical” and “desperate” to hang onto power. Netanyahu called on Gantz to form a unity government between his Likud, which won 32 seats, and Blue and White, which won 33, in the September 17 elections.
