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Israel’s caretaker prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Saturday renewed his call for a national unity government with his rival Gadi Eisenkot. He also repeated his pledge to eliminate the threat posed by Iran.
In a video statement, Netanyahu said a meeting with Eisenkot on Thursday had “only strengthened the conviction that it is essential to form a national unity government” to guarantee Israel’s security. Such a government, he said, could “eliminate the Iranian threat once and for all.”
Netanyahu said the government he envisions would be made up of parties that recognise Israel “as a state for the Jewish people.” He said it would focus on the country’s security challenges, above all Iran, which he claimed would “not hesitate to use nuclear weapons against us.”
Iran’s nuclear program has been a central theme of Netanyahu’s public messaging for many years. Israel has long said it will not allow Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons, while Iran has said its program is for peaceful purposes.
Following last month’s election, Eisenkot secured the backing of 67 lawmakers and was tapped on Sunday to form a new government. He has 28 days to do so, with a possible 14-day extension. In Israel’s 120-seat Knesset, a coalition needs the support of at least 61 lawmakers to govern.
Netanyahu’s proposed unity government would bring together key Jewish parties from the centre to the right. It would exclude the Arab parties.
Talks are expected to be difficult. Netanyahu has waged a campaign to discredit Arab-Israeli parties, which won a record number of seats in the election.
Eisenkot has said he would be open to forming a government with members of Netanyahu’s Likud party, as well as with outgoing Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism, provided their commitment to unity is “sincere.”
A unity government that includes Netanyahu himself nonetheless appears unlikely. On Friday, Eisenkot denounced Netanyahu’s campaign against the Arab parties as “racist,” a charge that deepens the divide between the two men as the clock runs down on the mandate to form a government.
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