Gantz Rules Out Government With Arab-Majority Political List

Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz has ruled out sitting in a government with the predominantly Arab Joint List, which could have significant ramifications following Israel’s March 2 elections. According to polls, Blue and White is leading Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and is inching toward a 61-member majority coalition when the Joint List is included. After the inconclusive September national vote, the Joint List took the rare step of recommending that Gantz be tasked with forming the next government but tensions between the factions have grown in the wake of the release of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan. Gantz on Tuesday reiterated his vow to implement the proposal “in coordination with regional actors,” which would entail Israel’s annexation of large swaths of the West Bank, a prospective move that Arab Israeli parliamentarians vehemently oppose. “I and the Joint List have deep disagreements on everything, including issues relating to diplomatic concerns [regarding the Palestinians] and the national and security issues of the State of Israel,” Gantz said Tuesday. “My disagreement with its leadership … is deep, fierce, and unbridgeable.” Accordingly, the likelihood of the March 2 vote ending in another political stalemate is increasing, with neither Blue and White nor Likud predicted to have a clear path to forming a ruling coalition.