Yair Golan Calls for Government with Arab Parties, Cites Democratic Majority

Yair Golan, Chairman of the Democrats and a retired Major General, declared on Wednesday that Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost, asserting that a majority of 65 seats is greater than 55, as is fundamental to Israeli democracy. He emphasized that Israel has no future if it continues to fear and exhibit racism, particularly by distinguishing between Jewish and Arab votes. Golan stated that the vote of an Arab Israeli citizen in Tayibe holds the same value as that of a Jewish Israeli citizen in Givat Shmuel. He criticized Netanyahu's bloc for including 16 members of Knesset from non-Zionist Haredi parties who allegedly promote draft evasion while soldiers are fighting and dying. Golan argued that if Netanyahu insists on counting only a Zionist majority, he should first remove these 16 Haredi MKs from his bloc. He claimed that the "change bloc" has a Zionist majority of 49 to 39 and an Israeli majority of 65 to 55. Golan called for the establishment of a "change government" in partnership with Arab citizens of Israel, which would serve all Israelis, urging courage, leadership, and action to seize this opportunity.