Interim Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu renewed his call for a national unity government on Wednesday, telling reporters as he entered the Knesset plenum that such a government is both necessary and achievable.
“A national unity government is necessary and possible. This is the order of the hour and the will of most of the people,” Netanyahu said.
“Yesterday I said that a national unity government is necessary. I’m trying to explain why it is possible,” he continued. “It is possible because this nation knows how to unite in times of war. I saw it yesterday in this house in the most moving moments imaginable. I saw how everyone applauded Talik Gvili and Shir Shapir, who gave their heroic sons.”
Netanyahu also pointed to the reception given to new Likud MK Elisha Medan. “I saw how everyone stood and applauded the hero of Israel, Elisha Medan, who after three years rose and stood upright, and the house shook with applause,” he said.
Medan, who lost both legs in the war, received a standing ovation after rising on his prosthetic legs to take the oath of office during Tuesday’s swearing-in of the 26th Knesset. The ceremony fell exactly three years after the explosion in Gaza that wounded him and killed four of his fellow soldiers. israelnationalnewsjns
“Throughout the war, nearly three years, this nation in all parts of the country absorbed ballistic missiles and stood firm,” Netanyahu said. “Stood firm in north Tel Aviv and south Tel Aviv, stood firm in the city, in the village, in the kibbutz and in the moshav. We saw it on the battlefield. I saw it in the armored personnel carrier, in the tank, I saw it in the air and ground crews, I saw it in the field units, I saw it in the chesed organizations.”
“Religious and secular, left and right, simply stood together and fought together, shoulder to shoulder,” he added. “So this nation knows how to unite in moments of testing, and we are facing moments of testing. I cannot tell here everything I know, but there are enough people here who know what great challenges stand before us, and also great opportunities. I believe that in such moments it is possible and necessary to unite. And I will continue to extend my hand, until hand meets heart, until hand meets hand. This is possible.”
Netanyahu’s remarks came a day after his address at the swearing-in ceremony, in which he sharply attacked the possibility of a government that relies on the Arab parties. “To those who think of establishing a government that includes within it or depends on supporters of terror, haters of Israel, to these people I ask you, are you willing to be dependent on those whose goal is the destruction of the Jewish state?” he said on Tuesday. In that speech, Netanyahu also warned that Iran is working to revive its nuclear threat and said the only way to permanently eliminate it is to topple the ayatollahs’ regime.
The call for unity comes as rival blocs maneuver over the next government. Following the October 27 election, Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc secured 53 seats while the parties opposed to him won 67, giving the opposition a majority but no agreed coalition. President Isaac Herzog has granted Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot the mandate to form the next government, and Eisenkot has until December 6 to do so.
