T. Belman. This article ignores the possibility that Jewish Home will reach the threshold.. I think Bibi will make sure they do by sending them some of Likud’s supporters to vote for it.
Notice Sa’ar is insisting on a Gantz-led unity government.
Justice minister says that even after splitting from the more hardline Balad, party heads Odeh and Tibi have ‘extremist’ views; says only option is Gantz-led broad unity government
TOI
Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar vowed Sunday that his center-right National Unity party will not form a coalition with a narrow majority that relies on Arab-majority party Hadash-Ta’al, even after they parted ways with the more extreme Balad party.
Sa’ar, who is No. 2 in National Unity behind the party leader, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, made the comments in an interview with the Kol A-Nas Arabic-language website about the coming November 1 elections.
He accused Hadash leader Ayman Odeh and Ta’al chief Ahmad Tibi of harboring extremist views that prevent them from being partners he can trust to be part of a governing coalition.
“We are very familiar with the positions of Odeh and Tibi, they are extremists, sometimes also anti-Israeli,” Sa’ar said.
“We won’t join a government that relies on extremist elements, because a government that relies on extremist elements won’t survive,” he said.
Sa’ar noted that he was only presenting the position of National Unity, and not that of Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who leads the centrist Yesh Atid party.
“We won’t agree to a government that rests” on Hadash-Ta’al, “period,” he said. “The only solution now is a broad national unity government, and the only one who can form such a government is Benny Gantz.”
National Unity is an alliance between Sa’ar’s right-wing New Hope party and Gantz’s centrist Blue and White.
In a move that was seen as having a significant impact on the outcome of the election, the Hadash and Ta’al parties last week split from the hardline Palestinian nationalist Balad, which said it will run alone.
Polls predict that Balad is far below the 3.25-percent threshold for entry into the Knesset, potentially wasting many thousands of votes and handing a parliamentary majority to the right-wing religious bloc of parties loyal to opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
But the Hadash-Ta’al alliance is expected to win four seats, which — if Netanyahu’s bloc doesn’t get a 61-seat majority in the 120-member Knesset — could put it in a kingmaker position in the parliament, where an ongoing political deadlock and four previous national elections since 2019 have frequently featured no party or bloc having a clear path to a majority.
Hadash-Ta’al and Balad both oppose a return to power of former prime minister Netanyahu, whose bloc is polling at around 59-60 seats, on the cusp of a majority.
Yesh Atid is leading the bloc of parties opposing Netanyahu, with National Unity polling at lower numbers but saying it is the only party that can bridge the gaps between the pro- and anti-Netanyahu blocs.
If Balad fails to pass the threshold, as expected, Hadash-Ta’al could be left holding the key seats needed by Lapid’s bloc to reach a majority. However, without National Unity, Lapid would still come up short.
Lapid — and Sa’ar — partnered with Ra’am, an Islamist party, to form the previous government, a diverse mix of eight parties from the left, center and right. The government ultimately collapsed after a year, following rebellions by individual lawmakers from various right-wing and left-wing coalition parties.
“We are very familiar with the positions of Odeh and Tibi, they are extremists, sometimes also anti-Israeli,” Sa’ar said.
“We won’t join a government that relies on extremist elements, because a government that relies on extremist elements won’t survive,” he said.
Sa’ar noted that he was only presenting the position of National Unity, and not that of Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who leads the centrist Yesh Atid party.
“We won’t agree to a government that rests” on Hadash-Ta’al, “period,” he said. “The only solution now is a broad national unity government, and the only one who can form such a government is Benny Gantz.”
Ahmad Tibi and Ayman Odeh of the Arab Joint List during a plenum session in the assembly hall of the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, on July 6, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
National Unity is an alliance between Sa’ar’s right-wing New Hope party and Gantz’s centrist Blue and White.
In a move that was seen as having a significant impact on the outcome of the election, the Hadash and Ta’al parties last week split from the hardline Palestinian nationalist Balad, which said it will run alone.
Polls predict that Balad is far below the 3.25-percent threshold for entry into the Knesset, potentially wasting many thousands of votes and handing a parliamentary majority to the right-wing religious bloc of parties loyal to opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
But the Hadash-Ta’al alliance is expected to win four seats, which — if Netanyahu’s bloc doesn’t get a 61-seat majority in the 120-member Knesset — could put it in a kingmaker position in the parliament, where an ongoing political deadlock and four previous national elections since 2019 have frequently featured no party or bloc having a clear path to a majority.
Hadash-Ta’al and Balad both oppose a return to power of former prime minister Netanyahu, whose bloc is polling at around 59-60 seats, on the cusp of a majority.
Yesh Atid is leading the bloc of parties opposing Netanyahu, with National Unity polling at lower numbers but saying it is the only party that can bridge the gaps between the pro- and anti-Netanyahu blocs.
If Balad fails to pass the threshold, as expected, Hadash-Ta’al could be left holding the key seats needed by Lapid’s bloc to reach a majority. However, without National Unity, Lapid would still come up short.
Lapid — and Sa’ar — partnered with Ra’am, an Islamist party, to form the previous government, a diverse mix of eight parties from the left, center and right. The government ultimately collapsed after a year, following rebellions by individual lawmakers from various right-wing and left-wing coalition parties.
By what standard does this poorly named “National Unit” party have the right to be described as “Center-Right”? They are led by the villainous Gantz who is flooding Samaria with illegal Arab settlements on Jewish owned lands while blocking Jewish settlements on the same lands. Is this the action of a leader who can be justly described as Right in any degree? I think not.
What’s more, as Saar announces that he will not partner with the Arab parties describing them as extremists, he also announces he will only support a unity govt under this same Gantz who is illegally ceding Jewish lands to the Arabs. Saar is additionally tied to Gantz by having joined Gantz’ party to survive the backlash of his betrayal of the Right in forming the current Leftist govt, meaning that for every vote cast in favor of Saar, it empowers Gantz all the more. Despite all of these associations with Gantz, Saar has failed to even mention the actions taking place in Samaria, much less condemn them. With all of this in mind, by what standard does Saar claim to be described as Center-Right?
If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck and votes like a Leftist, then that duck belongs in the Leftist National-Unity party or one of the Leftist parties allied with them. They are none of them Right wing, Right leaning or Right center groups or members. They desire the creation of a new Arab state on Jewish lands and they are fast making changes on the ground as we speak to accomplish this very infamy. Let them find their support from Leftist voters, and not beguile the easily misled voters of the Right into supporting what they do not support by mislabeling parties as Center Right.
There are parties of the Right, and there are parties of the Left. The Right cares to keep the Jewish heartland and the Left cares to give it away to create a new Arab state.
The most challenging and critical question in this election is which of these two choices will each voter choose to support.