Likud says opposition talks with Arab parties are a 'knife in the back'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ministers from his Likud party have stepped up their criticism of any political cooperation between the opposition and Arab parties. Haaretz reported that one Likud minister warned the opposition against choosing a new speaker of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, with votes from Arab lawmakers, calling such a move a "knife in the back" directed at the Jewish state. Haaretz did not name the minister in the portion of its report available to us.

The attacks followed a meeting of opposition leaders in Herzliya. According to The Times of Israel, Likud took aim at two routes the opposition could use to build a government without Netanyahu: support from Arab parties, or a partnership with ultra-Orthodox parties. In a statement quoted by the paper, Likud said that while Netanyahu had offered to form a broad national government, his rivals planned "a dangerous government reliant on supporters of terrorism." The Jerusalem Post described the same offensive as targeting what Likud called Arab party "terror support" and opposition "hypocrisy" over the draft of ultra-Orthodox men into the army.

Who Likud is targeting

The Times of Israel reported that the terrorism charge was directed at the Joint List and Ra'am, the two Arab-majority parties. Ra'am is also known in English as the United Arab List. Likud questioned how a government that depended on them could manage the continuing conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, saying that leading figures in such a coalition would not label Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist groups.

The second line of attack concerns the Haredim, as ultra-Orthodox Jews are known in Hebrew. Military service for ultra-Orthodox men, many of whom have long been exempt while studying in religious seminaries, is one of the most divisive issues in Israeli politics. The Jerusalem Post's headline indicates Likud accused opposition leaders of hypocrisy on the draft, though the details of that charge are not in the material available to us.

Why the Knesset speaker matters

After a general election, the newly elected Knesset chooses a speaker, who presides over the chamber and controls much of its agenda. The vote is often an early test of which camp can assemble a working majority before a government is formed. The Likud minister's warning, as reported by Haaretz, suggests the speaker election is now a point of contention between the two blocs. Israelis voted on October 27, 2026, according to a photo caption in The Jerusalem Post's report.

Where the opposition stands

The Times of Israel noted that the Likud attack came even though most of the Jewish opposition parties have said they will not depend on Arab parties to form a government. The paper added that backing from those parties would give the anti-Netanyahu camp a clear majority, which is why the question keeps returning.

Opposition leaders have also turned down Netanyahu's offer of a unity government. The Times of Israel reported that they hold him responsible for failures surrounding the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, and that they distrust him after past experience as his coalition partners.

How the reports differ

The three outlets describe the same campaign with different emphasis. Haaretz frames it as an escalation by Netanyahu and his ministers and highlights the Knesset speaker vote. The Times of Israel centres on a formal Likud statement issued after the Herzliya meeting. The Jerusalem Post foregrounds both the terrorism accusation and the draft issue. None of them contradicts the others on the facts reported.

What the reports do not say

The material available does not name the minister who made the "knife in the back" remark, identify which opposition leaders attended the Herzliya meeting, or explain the substance of the hypocrisy charge over the draft. No response from the Joint List, Ra'am or the opposition leaders to the Likud statement has been reported, and it is not stated whether any opposition party is actually seeking Arab votes in the speaker election.