Israeli media revealed repeated contacts between Nathan Eshel, a close associate of outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Mansour Abbas, head of the United Arab List, aimed at persuading him not to support Gadi Eizenkot in the task of forming the government. Eshel conducted these contacts before the parliamentary elections on November 3, during them, and after the announcement of results, in an attempt to prevent the list from supporting a government headed by Eizenkot.
In the same context, Channel 12 indicated that Eshel asked Abbas whether he would allow Eizenkot to pass the conscription law, to which he replied that his party would wait for the election results before making a decision. Eshel re-contacted Abbas after the announcement of results, asking him to help Eizenkot despite the list's refusal to be included in the coalition, without the list completely closing the door to him. Eshel initially denied continuing his relationship with Abbas, before admitting that he had asked Arab figures about their willingness to support Eizenkot.
For his part, the Likud party claimed that Netanyahu was surprised by those contacts, asserting that they took place without his knowledge or approval. These developments come at a time when Palestinian parties obtained 19 seats, 11 for the United Arab List and 8 for the Joint List, which may make their positions influential in efforts to form the government. Eizenkot received recommendations from 67 deputies compared to 46 for Netanyahu, and has an initial deadline of 28 days to form the government.
The channel added that Netanyahu is also trying to prevent ultra-Orthodox Jewish religious parties from joining Eizenkot's government by communicating with their religious authorities, but his attempts were met with rejection. Netanyahu wants to hold new elections and believes he will win them, promising to meet the demands of the ultra-Orthodox parties if he returns to power. Both Netanyahu and Eizenkot agree on rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state, despite UN resolutions stipulating its establishment under the two-state solution principle.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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