Nazareth (Israel) (AFP) - The head of the Joint Arab List, which won 11 seats in the legislative elections in Israel, said in an interview with Agence France-Presse on Monday that the opposition must accept the "political truth" and cooperate with his list to be able to overthrow Benjamin Netanyahu.

Published on: 02/11/2026 - 19:25

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats, while the opposition led by Gadi Eisenkot won 48 seats. Consequently, no party obtained the necessary majority (61 seats) to form a government, which puts the Arab representatives (11 from the Joint Arab List and 8 from the Unified Arab List) in the position of tipping the balance for this or that bloc.

Jabareen describes the Joint Arab List’s winning of 11 seats in last week’s elections as a “historic achievement.”

He added, "We say that whoever is serious about the project of changing this government must really deal with the political reality, that the Joint List vote could be decisive."

He continued, "The political map is clear. The opposition parties do not have a majority to pass draft laws without the Joint List."

Jabareen, who met on Monday with the Unified List in the city of Nazareth to discuss ways of cooperation and the possibility of recommending a candidate to form the government, criticized the opposition parties that categorically refuse to rely on the support of the two Arab lists. Among those parties is the secular right-wing "Israel Beytenu" party led by Avigdor Lieberman.

Jabareen said that the opposition parties, including Lieberman's party, "if they are serious about changing Netanyahu's government and removing him as prime minister, as they promised their audience, then this requires that there be cooperation, even at the lowest level."

He added that Lieberman "must deal with the data in front of him in the Knesset, and according to these data, the government of Netanyahu, (Itamar) Ben Gvir, and (Bezalel) Smotrich cannot be replaced without coordination with the Joint List."

Coordination and consultation

This week, Israeli President Isaac Herzog begins his meetings with representatives of the parties that won seats in the elections with the aim of determining the person he will assign to form the government.

Gadi Eisenkot expressed reservations about forming a coalition government that includes Arab parties, but he did not rule it out publicly.

On the other hand, Netanyahu focused his election campaign on portraying the Arab parties as a threat to the state, and he continued his campaign against them after the results were released, accusing them of stealing the elections.

The head of the Joint Arab List will meet on Tuesday with the leader of the leftist "Democrats" party, Yair Golan, who is the only one in the opposition team who has expressed a desire to establish a partnership with the Arabs.

Jabareen believed that these meetings are important for "coordination, consultation, and exchange of opinions about the decisions that are coming before us, whether in the upcoming session this week with the head of state, or after that regarding issues that will be quick and need quick decisions, most notably, for example, the election of the Speaker of the Knesset."

He pointed out that the opposition parties "do not have a majority to pass draft laws without the Joint List," adding, "Therefore, we say, yes, we want to extend our hands to legislation and decisions that serve our political project," and "at the same time, we want to see the possibilities, ways, and means of overthrowing Netanyahu's government."

Jabareen refused to reveal the person whom the Joint List would recommend to form the government to President Herzog.

In response to a question about the presence of positions of the Joint List that differ from the positions of most opposition bloc parties, especially with regard to the establishment of a Palestinian state, Jabareen said that many of the basic issues that his list focuses on relate to Arab citizens of Israel.

He added, "The need to ensure their security in the face of crime, violence, home demolitions, discriminatory policies, and the distribution of budgets are all issues that provide room for dialogue."

He stressed that potential partners will have to at least express a positive stance towards the positions of the Joint List, which rejects Netanyahu’s approach, which he described as “an approach of wars and destruction in Gaza and settler terrorism in the occupied West Bank.”

Eisenkot, despite sharing many security visions with Netanyahu and opposing the establishment of a Palestinian state, pledged to repair the damage caused to Israel's international standing as a result of the war in the Gaza Strip, and to confront settler violence in the West Bank.

Jabareen pointed out that “official negotiations” with other parties have not yet begun.

He added, "Our proposal is a human rights proposal, a proposal supported by international law and supported by the international community. We are talking about equality, we are talking about a just peace."

He said, "These political positions cannot be described as extremist unless the speaker is an extremist himself."

© 2026 AFP

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