Freed hostage to Eisenkot: Don't partner with Arab parties

Rom Braslavski, who survived captivity in Gaza, posted an emotional appeal on X on Wednesday evening, addressing Yesh party leader Gadi Eisenkot directly and asking him not to form a government with the Arab parties. The post comes against the backdrop of election results that leave neither bloc with a majority without the Arab parties, and calls within the left-wing parties to establish a minority government in cooperation with Arab MKs.

"Eisenkot, I'm asking you. For my sake. For the sake of the hostage survivors, for the bereaved families, and for everyone who voted for you; don't betray us and go with the Arabs who support terror and don't condemn Hamas," Braslavski wrote. "I didn't survive captivity and we didn't go through October 7th to see them in the Knesset. Politics, not at any price."

The words come at a particularly sensitive time, as according to reports, Change Bloc leaders, Gadi Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman, are holding intensive contacts to oust sitting Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, even before the government is formed. The move, which requires a majority of 61 Knesset members, places the Arab parties in a decisive position.

According to the count of 85.6% of the votes, Likud won 26 seats, Shas 7, United Torah Judaism 7, Otzma Yehudit 7 and Religious Zionism-Identity 6, a total of 53 seats for the Netanyahu bloc. On the other side, Eisenkot's "Yesh" won 20 seats, Bennett's "Together" 12, Lieberman's "Yisrael Beiteinu" 8, "Labor" 5 and "Meretz" 3, a total of 48 seats. The Arab parties won 10 seats, making them a decisive factor in any political scenario.

Democrats chairman Yair Golan tweeted this morning following the election results: "The picture of reality must teach us one resounding lesson: we have no future here if we don't stop being afraid. And if we don't stop with the racism. We must no longer accept Netanyahu's racist division between Jewish votes and Arab votes.

"The vote of an Israeli citizen who votes in Tira is exactly equal to the vote of an Israeli citizen who votes in Givat Shmuel. Not less. Not approximately. Exactly. Whoever tries to erase the votes of Arab citizens surrenders to Netanyahu and gives up on Israel.

"And now let's talk about Zionism. In Netanyahu's bloc sit 16 Knesset members from non-Zionist chareidi parties, who promote mass draft evasion while our children fight and are killed. If Netanyahu insists on counting only a Zionist majority, let him first subtract from his bloc the 16 Knesset members of the non-Zionist chareidi parties. They won't preach to us about Zionism. The Change Bloc has a Zionist majority: 49 versus 39. The Change Bloc has an Israeli majority: 65 versus 55. We have a majority. We have responsibility. And we have an opportunity to establish a change government in partnership with Israel's Arab citizens. A government that will serve all citizens of Israel. Now we need courage. We need leadership. We need to stop being afraid and start acting. Change government now!"

Netanyahu at victory speech, 2016 elections (Photo: Flash90/Chaim Goldberg)

Ra'am chairman Ahmad Tibi clarified that his party will vote to oust Ohana if required, but emphasized that "we will not be part of the coalition." On the other hand, in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's circle they are preparing for a broad counter-campaign, claiming that the move constitutes a "parliamentary coup" attempting to bypass the election results.

President Yitzchak Herzog called on leaders to prevent another election and find a political solution. However, the gap between the blocs and the controversy surrounding cooperation with the Arab parties makes it difficult to form a stable coalition. Braslavski's appeal joins other voices in the right-wing sector opposing cooperation with the Arab parties, and reflects the dilemma facing Change Bloc leaders.