Yashar! chairman Gadi Eisenkot responded Saturday night to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for a broad national unity government, making clear that Likud could join a government under his leadership only on his terms. Among them, Eisenkot is demanding that Likud break off its alliance with the “extremist parties,” adopt Yashar!’s four principles and agree to serve in a government he leads.
1+The party’s statement sharply attacked Netanyahu, calling him the “outgoing prime minister.” Eisenkot’s party claimed Netanyahu is now invoking unity for political gain after spending years, as they put it, dividing Israeli society. “The one who divided, fractured and turned Israeli society against itself is heard saying the word ‘unity’ only when he realizes his days in office are numbered,” the statement read.
The party further claimed that Netanyahu had formed unity and emergency governments in the past, only to undermine them from within and break the agreements he signed with his political partners. It also cited his decision to form a government with Itamar Ben-Gvir as a senior minister, which it said went against Netanyahu’s earlier promises.
1+Yashar! then laid out the principles behind the government Eisenkot hopes to form. According to the statement, the government would include only parties and MKs who support four principles, among them recognizing Hamas as a terror organization and committing to destroy its military and governing capabilities.
“If Likud and its partners are suddenly interested in unity and a broad government, they are more than welcome to publicly announce the dissolution of their alliance with the extremists, their acceptance of Gadi Eisenkot’s four principles and their willingness to join a government under Prime Minister Eisenkot,” the statement said. It concluded: “Until then, this is nothing but pathetic spin.”
Eisenkot’s response came after Netanyahu released a video message Saturday evening warning against forming a government that would rely on Arab parties supporting terrorism. “As early as this coming week, some intend to hastily swear in a government with supporters of terror,” Netanyahu said.
The prime minister detailed the dangers he sees in such a government. “A government that depends on Hamas supporters will not fight Hamas. A government that depends on those who hate Judaism will not preserve Israel as a Jewish state. A government that depends on radical Islam will not fight radical Islam,” he said. He also argued that such a government would be unable to remove the Iranian threat or protect IDF soldiers.
Netanyahu added that a third of the future government’s members, in his words, call IDF soldiers war criminals and glorify Nukhba and Hezbollah terrorists. He warned of riots in Israel’s streets, saying: “The fire and flames we see in the streets of Paris and Brussels will pale in comparison to the fire and flames we will see in ours.” Citing these dangers, Netanyahu called for a broad national unity government made up of the national camp and the Zionist parties. Such a government, he said, could confront the Iranian threat, preserve the Jewish character of the state and bring unity to the people.
The message comes after Netanyahu declared last Thursday that only a broad national government led by Likud, under his leadership, could meet the challenges facing Israel. In an interview with Channel 14 News about a week and a half before the election, he made clear he meant a broad right-wing government rather than a unity government. “I didn’t say a broad unity government, I said a broad right-wing government,” he told anchor Dana Varon at the time.