Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu does not exclude Arab ministers from government, he claimed in an interview with Ynet. In the interview, the prime minister stated that the Arab MKs he was 'correct' to exclude from his Cabinet are Ayman Odeh and Ahmad Tibi.
He said that Blue and White leader Benny Gantz would offer ministerial positions to Odeh and Tibi. "They are already negotiating. They said this will not happen? And how it will happen. They are negotiating right now, we even saw it in Yediot Ahronot. And wait, what? About the chairman of the Interior Committee, the chairman of the Finance Committee. I did not publish it. That is a fact. I know they are negotiating, a minimum bloc is sufficient to set up a government for Knesset committee authorities and a subsequent sitting in government. How they said: We are not disqualifying Arab ministers, I am not disqualifying Arab ministers either, but I disqualify those. These I rule out, and they do not rule them out and they will be there inside. This is a classic Arab left government. We have never been so close to each other. This must not be."
"I think the national interest requires a right-wing policy nationally and the Gantz-Lapid does not have a right-wing policy. They made every mistake, they opposed the security fence I set up in Sinai, they opposed the exit from the nuclear agreement."
When asked if Gantz could be the defense minister in his government, he replied that "" First of all, I want a government of 61, with a government of 61 who wants to join."
"Unfortunately, unless there are 61 [MKs who support me], there will be a left-wing government established" and not a unity government, Netanyahu said.