Yair Golan Calls for Government with Arab Citizens, Citing Majority

Yair Golan, Chairman of the Democrats and a retired Major General, called on Wednesday for the formation of a "change government" in partnership with Arab citizens of Israel. He asserted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had lost the election, stating, "We have a majority. We have a responsibility. And we have an opportunity to establish a change government in partnership with Arab citizens of Israel." Golan emphasized that democracy counts votes equally, regardless of the voter's background, declaring, "Netanyahu lost. I know how to count to 120. 65 is more than 55. That's how Israeli democracy works. Period."

Golan strongly criticized Netanyahu's approach, arguing against distinguishing between Jewish and Arab votes when calculating a Knesset majority. "We must no longer accept Netanyahu's racist division between Jewish votes and Arab votes," he stated. He equated the vote of an Israeli citizen in a predominantly Arab city like Tayibe to that of a citizen in Givat Shmuel, asserting, "The vote of an Israeli citizen who votes in Tayibe is worth exactly the same as the vote of an Israeli citizen who votes in Givat Shmuel." He added that attempting to erase the votes of Arab citizens means surrendering to Netanyahu and giving up on Israel.

Furthermore, Golan targeted the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties within Netanyahu's bloc, claiming that 16 Knesset members from non-Zionist parties are part of it. "If Netanyahu insists on counting only a Zionist majority, he should first remove the 16 Knesset members from the non-Zionist Haredi parties from his bloc," he argued. Golan calculated that the "change bloc" holds a Zionist majority of 49 to 39. He concluded with an urgent call for a new government, stating, "Now we need courage. We need leadership. We need to stop being afraid and start acting. A change government now!"