Amir Ohana opens 26th Knesset with call for unity and a line on Hamas

Amir Ohana, the Speaker of the Knesset, told the opening session of Israel's 26th parliament that the new chamber offered a chance for unity, while also saying there should be no cooperation with those who, in his words, spread blood libels about Israeli soldiers and describe Jews in their own land as invaders. The Times of Israel reported that he framed the point in terms of the future of Zionism and invoked the phrase "Never again."

Ohana also said Hamas was clearly a terrorist organisation "with or without" political lip service, a line carried by Ynet, N12, News.co.il and the commentator Amit Segal. According to The Times of Israel, he was pointing at Ra'am and the Joint List, two Arab parties that it said have declined to explicitly call Hamas a terrorist group. The ceremonial session took place in Jerusalem on November 10, 2026, with President Isaac Herzog in attendance.

What Ohana said

Several outlets ran short alerts from the speech within minutes of each other. Ynet quoted Ohana as saying the 26th Knesset carries within it an opportunity for unity, and News.co.il summarised the same message. In the fuller account published by The Times of Israel, Ohana said the new Knesset could alter the direction in which Israeli society is moving.

He listed what he called great challenges still facing the country, naming Iran's effort to obtain nuclear weapons and Hamas. Of Hamas he said the group had suffered a devastating blow but had not ceased to exist, The Times of Israel reported. Ynet's alert rendered his Hamas remark as referring to lip service offered as part of political negotiations.

N12 also carried a passage looking back on the previous parliament. According to N12, Ohana said the 25th Knesset, which he had the honour of leading, was the first since the 80s to complete its full term, but that this was not because the period had been calm. He described it as the hardest, most challenging and most tense Knesset.

The Knesset and its Speaker

The Knesset is Israel's single-chamber parliament, sitting in Jerusalem. Each newly elected Knesset is numbered in sequence, and its first sitting is a formal occasion attended by the President, a largely ceremonial head of state. The Speaker chairs plenary sessions and represents the legislature as an institution. Ohana presided over the outgoing 25th Knesset; N12 described him as the outgoing Speaker, while The Times of Israel referred to him simply as Knesset Speaker.

Israeli parliaments frequently dissolve before their terms run out, which is why Ohana singled out a Knesset that lasted its full span as unusual.

Ra'am, the Joint List and the Hamas question

Ra'am and the Joint List are parties that draw their support largely from Arab citizens of Israel. Whether Israeli parties should rely on them, in a governing coalition or in parliamentary votes, is a recurring argument in Israeli politics, and public positions on Hamas are often cited as a test in that debate. The Times of Israel said both parties have refused to explicitly label Hamas a terrorist organisation; Ohana's phrase about lip service in negotiations appears aimed at any statement they might make on the subject during coalition talks.

The language of the speech

A blood libel historically referred to the false accusation that Jews murdered Christians for ritual purposes, a charge that fuelled violence against Jewish communities in Europe for centuries. In Israeli political speech the term is used more broadly for accusations considered false and defamatory, here against Israeli soldiers. "Never again" is a phrase closely tied to the memory of the Holocaust. N12, citing Amit Segal, carried Ohana's statement that, for the sake of Zionism's future, there should be no cooperation with those who make such accusations.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports includes a response from Ra'am, the Joint List or other Arab lawmakers to Ohana's remarks. Ohana's speech, as quoted, did not name the parties; the link to Ra'am and the Joint List is The Times of Israel's reading of his words. The reports also do not say who will serve as Speaker of the new Knesset, and The Times of Israel's account of the speech breaks off before its end, so the full text has not been reported.