Adviser: Netanyahu's unity call is about keeping power

Communications adviser Itzik Elrov has dismissed Prime Minister Netanyahu's call for a unity government as insincere, saying it serves only the prime minister's personal interests rather than the nation's needs.

"Netanyahu is neither against unity nor for it," Elrov wrote. "Netanyahu is for Netanyahu in power, and Sara is also for Netanyahu in power; their entire comfortable lifestyle depends on it. If staying in power requires national unity, they're for it. If staying in power requires dividing the nation, they're for that too."

Elrov continued: "Netanyahu looks after Netanyahu's seat. There is no agenda. No values. Nothing. A liar and a fraud in a suit. If there is one urgent thing for the State of Israel, it is to throw this man into the dustbin of history."

The comments came after Netanyahu called last night for the formation of a national unity government. He said he had called for unity during the election campaign and repeated the call afterward. "This is a time for unity," he said at the opening of his remarks, adding: "This is the will of the people and the need of the hour."

Netanyahu claimed that as soon as next week, someone intends to swear in a government relying on what he called "terror supporters." He did not name the parties to which he was referring in the video. "A government dependent on Hamas supporters will not fight Hamas. A government dependent on haters of Judaism will not preserve Israel as a Jewish state," he said.

Netanyahu went on to claim that such a government would be unable to confront the Iranian threat or defend IDF soldiers in Gaza and Lebanon. He also compared the situation he says could develop in Israel to scenes in the streets of Paris and Brussels, claiming the outcome in Israel would be more severe. "With such a government, Israel simply will not survive," he said.

Netanyahu then detailed the composition of the government he wishes to form. "I call for the establishment of a national unity government that will include all the parties of the national camp," he said, adding that he is also calling on Zionist parties to join the move. According to him, such a government would be able to remove the nuclear threat from Iran, preserve Israel as a Jewish state, and bring about unity. He concluded his remarks with a call to party leaders to show responsibility: "This is the order of the hour, this is the order of our existence."