Commentator Avishay Ben Haim responded to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call for Gadi Eisenkot to join him in forming a national unity government. He warned that preferring the Arab parties over Likud supporters amounts to what he called a "historic event" unlike anything since the birth of the Zionist movement.
Battle Over Unity Government
Ben Haim Warns of 'Historic Event'
Commentator Avishay Ben Haim backed Netanyahu's call for a national unity government, warning against a coalition that relies on the Arab parties, while Gadi Eisenkot dismissed the offer as "spin."
"Preferring the Arab parties over the Likudniks who serve in the IDF and sacrifice themselves is a historic event whose headline is: a combination of post-Zionism and anti-Mizrahi sentiment," Ben Haim said, referring to prejudice against Jews of Middle Eastern and North African descent.
"Years ago I explained, in the Second Israel theory, and many did not understand where I was getting it from: there is a correlation between post-Zionism and anti-Mizrahi sentiment. There is a correlation between rejecting nationalism and rejecting Mizrahi identity. And here we are in the midst of a huge and terrible historic event, the likes of which there has not been since the Zionist movement came into being."
Netanyahu had said he held "an important conversation" with Eisenkot on Thursday, November 12. "Gadi and I have known each other for many years, since his term as chief of staff and even before that. This meeting only strengthened my understanding of how essential it is at this time to establish a national unity government, a government that will include all the parties that support the existence of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people, and that will be able to meet the enormous and complex security challenges before us," he said.
The prime minister renewed his call for a broad national government. "A national unity government will answer the yearning I hear from many of you, citizens of Israel, the yearning for national reconciliation, for reconciliation among ourselves. Because like me, you understand that at this time we must act together: Elisha Medan with Elisaf Peretz, Talik Gvili with Shira Shapira, a huge Zionist public joining forces to secure Israel's future."
Addressing Eisenkot directly, Netanyahu said: "Gadi, instead of trying to form a shaky and dangerous government that will not be able to meet, even slightly, the immense security and national challenges before us, let us do the obvious thing: we will enter the room, without preconditions, set aside all the disputes and all the boycotts, and reach agreements for Israel's security and future, including on the draft issue, which can be resolved together with representatives of the chareidi public. The necessary response to those who deliberately walked out during the singing of Hatikvah is to form the government of Hatikvah, the national unity government."
Eisenkot dismissed the appeal as "spin." In a written statement he said:
"The outgoing prime minister's statement to the media this evening, in which he called for a meeting for negotiations, is more spin. After all, Netanyahu knows that such a meeting has already been set for tomorrow between the negotiating teams of Yashar! and Likud.
My Israeli brothers and sisters, this is the latest bluff: Netanyahu calls for negotiations after they have already been scheduled, claims he wants unity, but disgraces a state ceremony in the Knesset and divides and incites as if there is no tomorrow. Nice try, but these tricks don't work on me. And not on the citizens of Israel either.
For the avoidance of doubt, Netanyahu also knows that the conditions for joining an emergency government headed by me are recognition of the principles I have laid out and parting ways with the extremists.
In the end, after all the speeches and declarations, the truth remains: Netanyahu is aware of his defeat in the elections. He is aware that there is an absolute majority against him among the citizens of Israel and in the Knesset, and he knows that a new and good government will be formed. Therefore, he is fighting a holding battle aimed at piling up obstacles to the formation of a new government and thwarting the replacement of the Knesset speaker."
