Israel’s Joint List and the Democrats agreed to work together to try to end Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, Anadolu Agency reported, after Arab-led parties won 19 seats in the election.
The Joint List comprises Hadash, Ta’al and Balad, while Ra’am ran separately. Before the reported agreement, the Joint List had signaled willingness to cooperate with the wider opposition after the Oct. 27 election, according to EconoTimes’ earlier coverage of its cooperation signal. Arab-led parties won 19 seats in Israel’s 120-seat Knesset, leaving coalition options uncertain.
Opposition figures had expressed differing views on whether Arab-led parties should enter a government. The Times of Israel reported that former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid ruled out forming a government with Arab-led parties, while Democrats leader Yair Golan supported cooperation with Ra’am. The Associated Press reported that opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot had indicated conditional openness. Those positions were reported before the coordination agreement Anadolu Agency described.
