Netanyahu calls for a national unity government over Iran
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on L’essentiel
Outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is calling on MPs to form a national unity government in the face of the « existential threat » posed by Iran’s nuclear programme. At the swearing-in of the new Parliament, minister Itamar Ben Gvir also accused Arab MP Youssef Jabareen of supporting Hamas, according to AFP.
Following the swearing-in of MPs of the new Israeli Parliament, outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again called on Tuesday for the formation of a national unity government to face what he describes as an « existential threat » linked to Iran’s nuclear programme. « In the face of these threats, we must [...] form a national unity government », he said in Parliament, according to AFP.
Netanyahu said Iran was seeking to rebuild its nuclear capability and warned that international pressure could soon be applied to Israel to accept a nuclear-armed Iran, AFP reports. The same day, outgoing far-right minister Itamar Ben Gvir accused MP Youssef Jabareen, leader of the Unified List, of supporting the Palestinian group Hamas during the swearing-in. Several MPs from this list then left the chamber during the Israeli national anthem, according to an AFP photographer.
This new call for national unity comes after Netanyahu’s appeal, on 8 November, for unity around Gadi Eisenkot, former chief of staff of the Israeli army. The new Israeli Parliament, whose MPs were sworn in on 10 November, has no clear majority, while Eisenkot is due to form a government. Netanyahu calls for national unity around Eisenkot
