Hundreds in Israel Demand Arab-Inclusive Government After 67-Seat Win
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MENAFNRoughly 300 people gathered in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel to press for Arab representation in the next coalition, an Israeli daily newspaper reported. Several hundred more filled Habima Square in central Tel Aviv with the same demand, an Israeli online newspaper reported.
Tel Aviv protesters carried signs in Arabic and Hebrew reading, “67 seats. Let’s take a new path,” a nod to the combined seat count of the anti-Netanyahu bloc, which includes the Arab Joint List and Ra’am, in the 120-seat Knesset.
Chants of “Without partnership, there is no peace,” rang through the crowd. Others denounced “divide and rule” and called for “freedom and equality for all.” Standing Together, a movement promoting Jewish-Arab partnership and political equality, joined the rally.
Some demonstrators also demanded the release of journalist Abd Abu Shahadeh. Israeli media reported that he was detained Wednesday on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent, after he traveled to Doha to interview former Knesset member Azmi Bishara.
The rallies unfolded just ahead of an announcement by Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Saturday that he will tap Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot to form the next government, according to an Israeli news website.
Eisenkot has been invited to accept the mandate at a ceremony at the President’s Residence on Sunday at 5 pm local time (1500GMT), the report said.
The election handed parties opposed to Netanyahu 67 seats, 19 of them held by the two Arab lists, against 53 for parties backing him. Most opposition leaders reject building a government that depends on Arab parties. Without them, the opposition parties hold 48 seats, short of the 61 needed for a majority.
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