Yair Golan Calls for Arab Party Inclusion in Government Coalition

Following the counting of approximately 60% of the votes in Israel's general election, Yair Golan, Chairman of the "Democrats" party, declared that Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost and called for the formation of a coalition government that includes Arab parties. Golan stated on his X account that "Netanyahu has lost" and that "65 is more than 55," referring to the potential for a majority in the Knesset. He emphasized that the voice of every Israeli citizen's vote is equal, regardless of their location or ethnicity, and criticized Netanyahu's division of votes into "Jewish votes and Arab votes."

Golan argued that if Netanyahu insists on a "Zionist majority," he should first exclude the 16 Knesset members from non-Zionist Haredi parties in his bloc, asserting that these parties do not promote Zionism while Israeli soldiers are fighting and dying. He claimed that the "change bloc" has a "Zionist majority" of 49 to 39 and an "Israeli majority" of 65 to 55, presenting an opportunity to form a "change government" in partnership with Arab citizens of Israel.

Earlier, after the initial exit poll results were released, Golan had reiterated that Netanyahu's bloc had "crumbled" and called for the formation of a government, even if it meant support from Arab parties from the outside or their inclusion in the coalition. He stated that the Israeli public had "fired Netanyahu and Likud" and that the "mandate" received from the public was an "operational order to rebuild the country." Golan stressed the urgency of forming a new government, calling it an "urgent security mission" to prevent Netanyahu from leading Israel into war for political reasons.