Odeh Lists Demands for Supporting Minority Government under Gantz

Blue & White leader, MK Benny Gantz met on Monday, March 9, with Hadash MK Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint List, to discuss the possibility the former’s putting together a minority coalition government, supported from outside by the alliance of Hadash, Ra’am, Ta’al and Balad.

“We aim to form a government that will serve all citizens of the country, Jews and Arabs,” Gantz said after the meeting, adding that he is doing all he can to avoid a fourth round of elections. Odeh tweeted: “We are sticking to our goal of replacing Netanyahu’s legacy, and it starts by respecting the united voice of the Arab public and our Jewish partners.”

MK Ayman Odeh (at the podium) during an electoral rally in Shefa-'Amr (Shfar'am)

MK Ayman Odeh (at the podium) during an electoral rally in Shefa-‘Amr (Shfar’am) (Photo: Al Ittihad)

Senior Kahol Lavan member, MK Yair Lapid said Tuesday, March 10, that he prefers a minority government endorsed by Joint List alliance to a fourth election cycle.

MK Odeh on Tuesday listed some of the demands his alliance. “Our people want something very specific,” Odeh said, speaking live on Facebook. “They want to see a direct link between the political situation and their everyday concerns.”

Referring to the American plans for perpetuation of the occupation, Odeh insisted that if the Joint List could support Gantz in forming a government, he would demand the cancellation of all unilateral steps included in the US plan, including a declaration of Israeli sovereignty over much of occupied West Bank. Odeh stressed that his alliance would not agree to a piecemeal agreement with Gantz’s party, but would demand a comprehensive series of understandings. “We can’t just say, ‘cancel the Kaminitz law’ and let them go and bomb Gaza, or move forward on this ‘Deal of the Century,'” he said.

Related: Posts on Kaminitz Law