Kathmandu. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated his stance of not forming a government together with Arab parties. On Friday, he shared a video on the X social network containing parts of the speeches and expressions of Arab politicians and opposition parliamentarians, and said that it was unacceptable to form an alliance with them.
The video shared by Netanyahu includes the statements of Arab politicians and parliamentarians including Ahmed Tibi, Iman Khatib-Yasin, Mansour Abbas, Sami Abu Shehadeh, Ofer Kasif, Yusuf Jabarin and Ayman Odeh.
In the video, they are heard expressing their support for the Palestinian cause. Right-wing Jewish groups have considered such expressions anti-national. Although Netanyahu has maintained a stance of not forming an alliance with the Arab party, it is a challenge for him to gather consensus within his own supporter group for the formation of the government.
According to the Israeli news agency N12 News, the Haredi community newspapers “Hamodia” and “Hamshabiz” have stated that the Haredi parties want to present themselves as a separate entity from the Netanyahu-led faction.
A source from ‘United Torah Judaism’ (UTJ) has also said that his party is not part of any faction. In the Knesset, UTJ got seven seats and Shas got six seats. However, “Religious Zionism” led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and “Otzma Yehudit” led by Minister Itamar Ben Gvir are said to be less likely to separate from Netanyahu’s faction.
Netanyahu has said that it is his responsibility to form the government. He said, “Now the most difficult task begins, which is the attempt to form the government. This is our responsibility to the people who lined up to vote on Tuesday, who made a special trip and sat outside the polling station for eight hours urging others to vote.”
Israel’s Central Election Committee announced the final results of the national elections on Friday and confirmed the number of seats for the parties in the 26th Knesset. The swearing-in ceremony of the new parliament is scheduled to take place on November 10.
According to “The Times of Israel”, Netanyahu’s Likud Party has become the largest party with 27 seats. Yashar won 21 seats, B’Yachad won 12 seats, United List won 11 seats and Democrats and Ra’am won eight seats each.
Similarly, Israel Betenu, United Torah Judaism and Otzma Yehudith got seven seats each and Shas and Religious Zionism got six seats each. According to the final results, the pro-Netanyahu group has 53 seats, the opposition group has 48 seats and the Arab parties have 19 seats. It is said that Netanyahu’s faction needs more support to get the necessary majority to form the government.