Eisenkot: Netanyahu’s campaign against Arabs is “racist,” he says

With coalition arithmetic suddenly placing Arab parties at the heart of Israel’s political endgame, prime ministerial hopeful Gadi Eisenkot has accused caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of stoking what he called a “racist” drive aimed at delegitimising the country’s Arab minority by tying its elected representatives to Hamas.

Mr Eisenkot’s intervention stood out as a rare moment in which a senior Jewish political figure issued an emphatic public defence of Arab Israelis, who make up more than 20% of the population.

The backdrop is last month’s election, in which the Arab-majority parties Raam and the Joint List won a combined 19 seats — nearly a sixth of the 120-seat parliament — positioning them as potential kingmakers as Mr Eisenkot tries to assemble a governing coalition.

“Arab citizens of Israel are an integral part of the Israeli story,” Mr Eisenkot wrote on X.

“They have been subjected to a racist and aggressive campaign of delegitimisation, fuelled by the outgoing prime minister and those around him for political purposes,” he added.

“The attempt to marginalise them and vilify them collectively is a profound violation of the principles of civic responsibility.”

Mr Netanyahu and his allies have repeatedly attacked Arab party leaders for declining to label Hamas a “terror group” after its unprecedented 7 October, 2023 assault on Israel.

Leaders across the Arab parties have condemned the attack. Among those killed were Arab Israelis — descendants of Palestinians who remained in what became Israel in 1948.

Mr Netanyahu has also repeatedly alleged electoral fraud by Arab-majority parties, but electoral authorities have rejected the claims.

In a speech this week, Mr Netanyahu said the two Arab lists refuse to recognise Israel as a Jewish state, even though Raam leader Mansour Abbas has done so in the past.

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He also asserted that they aimed to create either an “Islamic state” or a “nationalist Palestinian state”.

At the same ceremony, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir heckled Joint List leader Youssef Jabareen during his oath of allegiance, telling him he had “pledged allegiance to Hamas”.

“It is entirely legitimate to disagree with representatives of the Arab parties, even to strongly disapprove of some of them. But it is neither legitimate nor acceptable to malign an entire community, and I will not allow it,” Mr Eisenkot said.

President Isaac Herzog on Sunday gave Mr Eisenkot the mandate to form a new government after consultations in which a majority of political parties — including the two Arab lists — recommended him for the job.

But the path ahead remains fraught. One of Mr Eisenkot’s right-wing allies, Avigdor Liberman, has warned he would leave a coalition that includes Arab Israelis.

Mr Eisenkot has 28 days to form a government, with the option to seek a 14-day extension.

If he still cannot put together a coalition, the mandate would move to another politician, most likely Mr Netanyahu.