Eisenkot slams Netanyahu’s ‘racist’ campaign against Palestinian Israelis

Israeli prime ministerial hopeful Gadi Eisenkot has accused caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of fuelling a “racist and violent” campaign against Palestinian citizens of Israel during the elections.

Eisenkot, who has been tasked with forming Israel’s new government, posted a lengthy social media update on recent developments in Israel on Friday.

“Arab citizens of Israel make up 21 percent of the total population. Since the start of the election campaign, they have faced a racist and violent campaign of delegitimisation fuelled by the outgoing prime minister and his circle for political reasons,” Eisenkot wrote on X.

“The prime minister of Israel is the prime minister of all citizens, including those who did not vote for him,” he said. “Arab citizens of Israel are part of the Israeli story. The attempt to marginalise them and smear them as a group is an anti-state act.”

In Israel’s October 27 elections, Eisenkot’s four-party alliance won 48 seats, while Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious bloc secured 53, leaving both short of the 61 needed for a parliamentary majority. Arab-led parties, representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, won a record 19 seats.

Netanyahu repeatedly made unproven allegations of electoral fraud by Arab-majority parties – claims Israel’s own electoral authorities have rejected.

The caretaker leader has also repeatedly criticised Arab-led parties for refusing to describe Hamas as a “terror group” following the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, despite all of the parties’ leaders condemning the Hamas-led assault.

“One can disagree with the representatives of the Arab parties, and one can even feel deep revulsion toward some of them, but one cannot, should not, and I will not allow an entire sector to be slandered,” Eisenkot said.

Arab-led parties have endorsed Eisenkot to replace Netanyahu. However, Eisenkot has ruled out forming a government with those parties, which would give him a 67-seat bloc. Winning the backing of the two ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, would give him exactly 61 seats.

On efforts to form an emergency government, Eisenkot reiterated that he wants to fulfil the mandate as soon as possible, adding “it would be a grave mistake not to do so”.

Eisenkot, who ran as Netanyahu’s main rival, has six weeks to form a new government.

While Netanyahu may be politically weakened, the prime minister is reported to be weighing military action against Iran, despite a lack of enthusiasm from the United States, his own military establishment, and Eisenkot, who has demanded that Netanyahu avoid any new escalation unless it is critical.

In Friday’s update, Eisenkot said he had met with Netanyahu and his military secretary on Thursday to discuss the security situation but provided no details.

Earlier in the week, Eisenkot said that he was open to including Netanyahu in his coalition. Eisenkot suggested Netanyahu’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was also welcome to join.

Eisenkot led Israel’s military from 2015 to 2019 and sat as an observer in Netanyahu’s war cabinet for the first eight months of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which began in October 2023.