Odeh Says Lapid Rejected a Safety Net for the Previous Government

Hadash-Ta'al chairman Ayman Odeh said in an interview with Radio Nase that Yair Lapid rejected a safety net from Hadash and Ta'al in the previous government. According to MK Odeh, before the fall of the “change government”, the previous Bennett-Lapid government, Ta'al chairman Ahmad Tibi approached Lapid and offered him a safety net that would have allowed the Bennett-Lapid government to continue. Odeh said Lapid turned down the offer and told Tibi that Naftali Bennett would not agree to rely on a safety net from terror supporters.

Odeh's remarks come against the background of claims recently made by Ra'am during negotiations to form the Joint List. Ra'am said the previous Knesset's Joint List, led by Odeh and Tibi, worked to bring down the change government, while Odeh rejected the claims and said it was they who tried to provide a safety net for the Bennett-Lapid government. It should also be noted that yesterday we first reported on a meeting of the heads of the Arab lists, which ended with Hadash announcing “advanced talks” to form a joint list without Ra'am. After Hadash concluded that Abbas was dragging out the process, it decided to advance the talks without him.

We should note that during the Bennett-Lapid government, Ra'am was part of the coalition, but since October 7 the various parties have declared that they will not form a government or rely on Arab parties as the 61st vote needed to establish the next government. However, MK Walid Alhwashla of Ra'am said during the night in a debate on the Police Internal Investigations Division law, which was approved in the Knesset in the early hours of the morning: “I hope that in the next elections the Arab public will go out and vote and give us the strength to influence the next government. We say this openly. We want to influence in order to achieve results and stop the racist celebration against the Arab public.”