Yair Golan tells anti-Netanyahu bloc not to rule out Arab parties

Yair Golan, who chairs the Democrats party, called on his partners in the bloc opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move quickly to form a government and not to exclude Arab parties from it. The Times of Israel reported that he spoke to reporters before the Democrats faction convened, on the day the 26th Knesset, Israel's parliament, opened, with its members due to take their oath that afternoon.

According to the Times of Israel, Golan urged colleagues in what he called the change bloc: "let's form a government quickly." He told them not to dismiss the Arab parties or the Arab public. N12, an Israeli television news outlet, reported that Golan opened by saying "we have a country to save", and that the new Knesset and a new government had to be established as fast as possible.

The argument Golan made

Golan grounded his case in the role Arab citizens play in Israeli hospitals. The Times of Israel reported that he said those who are able to care for wounded Israeli sons and save their lives are entitled and able to sit in the Israeli government alongside his camp. He made the same point in a post on X, where he wrote that such people have the right to sit in the government of Israel and in what he termed the coalition of revival.

He also pointed to the election result. According to the Times of Israel, Golan said the public had chosen to replace Netanyahu's government by 67 seats to 53, a result he called an "overwhelming majority", and warned against every extra day the outgoing coalition stays in place.

One detail differs between accounts. The Times of Israel and N12 describe Golan addressing the "change bloc", the label commonly used in Israel for the parties opposed to Netanyahu. In his own Hebrew post on X, Golan instead addressed his colleagues in a bloc he named for renewed revival, a phrase that can be rendered as the renewal or revival bloc.

Talks with Ra'am and the Hamas question

Ynet, the website of the Yedioth Ahronoth group, reported that Golan confirmed its earlier report of negotiations with Abbas, the chairman of Ra'am. Ra'am, also known as the United Arab List, is an Arab party with an Islamist orientation. According to Ynet, Golan was asked whether Ra'am would have to recognise Hamas as a terrorist organisation, and replied that this was not an obstacle for his side and would come out of the negotiations.

Ynet also reported that the Ra'am chairman did not deny the talks, and said his party wants to be part of the next government.

Why Arab parties are a sensitive issue

Arab citizens make up a significant minority of Israel's population, and parties representing them win seats in every Knesset. Most Israeli governments have been formed without Arab parties as formal coalition members, and whether to rely on them, either inside a coalition or as outside support, is a recurring point of dispute on both sides of Israeli politics. Ra'am previously broke with that pattern by sitting in a governing coalition, which made it a frequent target of criticism from Netanyahu's camp.

Golan's appeal is aimed at partners in his own bloc, some of whom have in the past been reluctant to depend on Arab parties. The Democrats party sits on the left of that bloc.

How coalition building works

Israel has a parliamentary system. After an election, the president consults with the parties elected to the Knesset and assigns a member the task of forming a government, which must then win the confidence of a Knesset majority. Until a new government is sworn in, the outgoing government stays in office in a caretaker capacity. That is the backdrop to Golan's warning about each additional day the current coalition remains in power.

The swearing-in of a new Knesset marks the start of the parliamentary term but does not by itself produce a government. Parties typically hold faction meetings on the opening day, as Golan's Democrats did around the time of his remarks.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports carries a response from Golan's partners in the anti-Netanyahu bloc to his call, or from Netanyahu's camp. The reports do not describe what stage the negotiations with Ra'am have reached, who besides the Democrats is taking part, or what terms are on the table beyond the Hamas question Golan addressed.