President Isaac Herzog asked representatives of the Arab Joint List on Thursday if they would stop supporting the government in the case of a significant war against Iran or Hamas.
Joint List chairman Prof. Yousef Jabareen refrained from committing and clarified that the party would make a strategic decision.
Herzog posed the question during a consultation meeting regarding the formation of the government, during which the Joint List recommended Yashar Party Chairman Gadi Eisenkot for the task.
Herzog asked the party representatives: "If there's a substantial security campaign - Iran, Hamas, things like that, do you stop your support?"
Jabareen answered: "We will make strategic decisions. The public did not choose us to topple Netanyahu and then bring him back, and therefore, we will make decisions that serve our strategy to advance the values in which we believe, and we aspire that the path will be one of peace."
The Joint List delegation at the President’s Residence included Yousef Jabareen, MK Ahmad Tibi, Bakr Awawdeh, MK Ofer Cassif, and Maha Sabbah Karkabi.
During the meeting, MK Ahmad Tibi addressed the election results and voter turnout among Arab citizens, taking a jab at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Netanyahu wanted the Arabs to flock to the polls. He wanted to frighten the Jews. This time, they flocked to the polls to replace him, and that is very democratic," Tibi said.
Jabareen then sharply criticized the Prime Minister and Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, accusing them of engaging in ongoing incitement against Israel's Arab population. According to Jabareen, similar statements directed at Jews in a European country would be considered antisemitic.
Jabareen also referred to the Prime Minister's son, Yair Netanyahu, claiming that he had published a statement suggesting that Arab citizens would carry out "the next October 7." Jabareen addressed President Herzog directly, criticizing his response to what he described as statements targeting the Arab population.
The consultations at the President's Residence are taking place following the publication of the results of the elections for the 26th Knesset. During the meetings, Herzog is hearing the positions of the various factions and their recommendations regarding which Knesset member should be tasked with forming the next government.
Additional consultations with representatives of the remaining three factions are scheduled for this evening: Together at 6:00 p.m., Yashar at 7:15 p.m., and Likud at 8:30 p.m.