Gadi Eisenkot has launched a sharp attack on Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of fuelling a racist and hostile campaign against Israel’s Arab citizens during the election campaign. In a post on X on Friday, Eisenkot addressed the intensifying political confrontation in the country, arguing that the outgoing prime minister and his circle had sought to delegitimise Arab citizens for political ends. Arabs make up around 21% of Israel’s population and have been at the centre of a campaign that, in his view, fosters racism and exclusion. “The prime minister of Israel is the prime minister of all citizens, even those who did not vote for him,” Eisenkot said, adding that Arab citizens are an integral part of the country’s history. He stressed that the effort to marginalise them and collectively smear them damages the state itself.
The election and the rise of Arab parties
The dispute comes in the wake of the 27 October election, in which neither of the two main political alliances secured the 61-seat majority needed in the Knesset. Eisenkot’s four-party alliance won 48 seats, while Netanyahu’s bloc secured 53. Particularly significant was the performance of the Arab-led parties, which represent Palestinian citizens of Israel and achieved a historic result with 19 seats in total. Netanyahu has repeatedly alleged electoral irregularities by parties with a predominantly Arab voter base, claims that were rejected by the country’s electoral authorities.
The dispute over Hamas
The outgoing prime minister has also criticised the Arab parties for refusing to designate Hamas a terrorist organisation following the attack of 7 October 2023, although the leaders of these parties had condemned the Hamas attack on Israel. Eisenkot’s intervention highlights the deep political divide in Israel over the place of Arab citizens, as well as the struggle over the formation of the next government.
Source: Al Jazeera
