AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Faten Ghattas, a member of the Joint Arab List in the Israeli regime's Knesset, announced that Arab currents are ready to do whatever is necessary to oust the current government of Benjamin Netanyahu. In an interview with Al-Mayadeen network, she described the ongoing political struggle as a confrontation with racism and an effort to push aside the "fascist government" and said the Israeli regime is at a sensitive juncture.
Criticism of the camp opposing Netanyahu
Ghattas criticized the so-called "change" camp that opposes Netanyahu and said this current is afraid of taking power by relying on the seats of Arab representatives; a position that, according to her, reflects the "crisis of Zionism." She also emphasized that this camp has so far not shown the necessary competence to take serious steps on the path of change.
This Arab representative from the Joint List called for holding a coordination meeting with the United Arab List (Ra'am) to agree on not supporting Netanyahu. She also announced that the Joint List is ready to negotiate with the change camp and called for a preliminary agreement on replacing the Knesset speaker. According to Ghattas, electing a new Knesset speaker will be the first test of the political forces and a sign of future developments. The Times of Israel newspaper has reported that the change camp has agreed to replace Amir Ohana, the current Knesset speaker from the Likud party, and the name of Yair Lapid has been raised as one of the possible options.
Warning about Netanyahu's return through the path of elections
Ghattas warned about holding new elections and said such elections might bring Netanyahu back to the scene with more power. She also expressed concern that the Israeli regime's prime minister might resort to launching a new war to force political currents to support him. Ghattas considered the solution to the internal political crisis to be contingent on addressing the political issues outside this regime, especially its military failures on various fronts.
This Knesset member said Israeli parties are seeking to delegitimize Arab parties with baseless accusations and warned that she considers efforts to remove Arab representatives from political equations worrying. She emphasized that the Joint List is ready to negotiate with any current that seeks change, but its priority is to end the current government without imposing the cost of a prolonged political crisis on Arab society.
According to statistics from the Central Elections Committee, the Joint List and the United Arab List together hold 19 seats out of the Knesset's 120 seats; 11 seats for the Joint List and eight seats for Ra'am. The change camp also has 48 seats and needs the support of Arab parties to achieve a majority of 61 seats. However, Gadi Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, and Avigdor Lieberman, the leaders of currents opposing Netanyahu, have rejected forming a government with the participation of or reliance on Arab parties; in contrast, Yair Lapid has called for the formation of a broad coalition.
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