Yoaz Hendel, former Israeli government minister and current chairman of the HaBayit HaTzioni (The Zionist Home) party, appeared for an interview on the "Kippot Barzel" program hosted by Netanel Yitzchak, where he firmly rejected any possibility of enabling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a governing coalition.
Hendel categorically dismissed the prospect of providing Netanyahu with the crucial votes needed to reach a 61-seat majority in the Knesset (Israel's parliament) if such a coalition would include the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties. He maintained this position even when asked whether significant concessions, such as guarantees on military conscription legislation or receiving the national security portfolio, might change his calculus.
"There is absolutely no chance that I would complete Netanyahu's path to 61 seats with the haredim," Hendel stated. "It won't happen. I also don't believe he will separate from them. By the way, it's ingrained in him. The man has learned political survival, not long-term vision for the benefit of the State of Israel."
Hendel applied the same logic to the possibility of sitting in a government dependent on the Ra'am party, led by Mansour Abbas, an Arab-Israeli political party. Despite what he acknowledged as Abbas's "pleasant talk in the past," Hendel argued that actions and statements made in Arabic tell a different story. "For this to work, you need Zionist parties," he explained, referring to his requirement that coalition partners be both Zionist in ideology and serve in the Israeli military, criteria that exclude both haredi and Arab parties.
