Yair Golan urges change bloc to form a government with Arab parties

Yair Golan, chairman of the Democrats party, called on Wednesday for the parties of Israel's so-called change bloc to form a government together with Arab parties, telling his partners that they hold a majority and must overcome their hesitation. The Times of Israel reported that Golan cited a figure of 65 seats and said the bloc needed to stop being afraid.

According to N12 political correspondent Dafna Liel, Golan said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had lost, that he knew how to count to 120, and that 65 is more than 55. He added that Israel should no longer accept what he described as a racist division between Jewish votes and Arab votes. Ynet reported that the remarks came a day after his own party cleared the way for including Ra'am in a government, and that Golan now appeared to be widening his appeal to the Joint List as well.

What Golan said

The reports carry several lines from Golan's remarks. Ynet quoted him as saying there is an opportunity to build a government in partnership with Arab citizens' parties, and that the change bloc has both a Zionist majority and an Israeli majority. "Now courage and leadership are needed," he said, according to Ynet, adding that a vote cast in Tira is worth the same as a vote cast in Givat Shmuel. He also said Netanyahu should not lecture others on Zionism.

A separate alert from Ynet's news channel quoted Golan as saying that anyone trying to erase Arab votes is surrendering to Netanyahu and giving up on Israel. Commentator Amit Segal summarised the message to Golan's bloc partners as a call to stop fearing and to recognise that a change government with Arab parties is possible.

The numbers behind the argument

Israel's parliament, the Knesset, has 120 seats, which is the figure Golan referred to when he said he could count to 120. A government needs the backing of a majority of those members to take office. Golan's point, as reported by N12, was arithmetic: a grouping of 65 seats is larger than one of 55, and in his view that should settle who forms the government. The reports do not spell out which parties make up the 65 or the 55, though the context of his remarks indicates that his 65 includes Arab parties alongside the Jewish parties opposed to Netanyahu.

Who the parties and places are

The "change bloc" is the informal name for the camp of parties opposed to Netanyahu's continued rule. Golan, a former deputy chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, leads the Democrats, a party on the left of that camp.

Ra'am, also known as the United Arab List, is an Arab party with roots in the Islamic Movement. It made history when it joined a previous anti-Netanyahu coalition, becoming the first independent Arab party to sit in an Israeli government. The Joint List is a separate alliance of Arab and Arab-Jewish parties that has historically stayed outside governing coalitions. According to Ynet, Golan's latest comments suggest he is open to working with both.

The two towns Golan named were chosen as contrasts. Tira is an Arab city in central Israel, while Givat Shmuel is a largely Jewish, partly religious city near Tel Aviv. His point was that votes in both carry equal weight.

Why this is contested in Israeli politics

Whether Jewish-majority parties should rely on Arab parties to form or sustain a government is one of the most divisive questions in Israeli coalition politics. Netanyahu and his allies have frequently argued that such partnerships are illegitimate, and some parties within the change bloc itself have been reluctant to commit to them. Golan's remarks, as reported, were aimed at those partners, urging them to treat Arab votes as no different from any others.

What the reports do not say

The reports do not say where or in what setting Golan made these remarks. They do not explain whether the 65 and 55 figures refer to election results, polling or projected seat counts. None of the reports carries a response from other change bloc leaders, from Ra'am, from the Joint List or from Netanyahu's Likud party. Ynet refers to a decision taken in Golan's party the previous day regarding Ra'am, but the reports give no detail of how that decision was made or what it formally contains. It is also not reported whether any other party has agreed to Golan's proposal.