Natan Eshel, the former chief of staff to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and one of his closest associates, contacted Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas several times in an attempt to prevent his party from helping establish a government headed by Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot, Channel 12 News reported Monday evening.
According to the report, Eshel contacted Abbas before the elections, during the voting period, and after the results were announced, seeking to determine whether Ra'am would support moves that would enable Eisenkot to form a government.
In one of his approaches, Eshel asked Abbas whether Ra'am would allow Eisenkot to pass the military conscription law in the Knesset.
Abbas replied, "We will wait for the election results and decide accordingly."
Immediately after the election results were announced, Eshel contacted Abbas again and asked, "Will you help Eisenkot?"
This time, Ra'am chose not to respond to the inquiry.
Later, after Netanyahu had already launched a campaign against the possibility of establishing a government dependent on the Arab parties, Eshel once again contacted Abbas and asked, "Will you help Eisenkot in the Knesset, even though he doesn't want you in the coalition?"
According to the report, Ra'am is currently refraining from responding to Eshel's inquiries but has not completely ruled out the possibility of political cooperation.
The relationship between Eshel and Abbas is not new. Contacts between Netanyahu and the Ra'am chairman began as early as 2019 and subsequently developed into a political channel of communication that also operated at the Prime Minister's official residence on Balfour Street.
According to the report, Eshel was the person who initially established the channel of communication between the two sides.
The report comes against the backdrop of Netanyahu's public campaign against the possibility of establishing a government with the support of the Arab parties, an issue on which he is adamant.
Earlier Monday, in a recorded statement calling for the establishment of a unity government, Netanyahu said, "You cannot establish a government with Hamas supporters, a government that depends on Hamas supporters."
He added, "You cannot fight Iran and its other proxies, radical Islam, if you have supporters of radical Islam within the government on whom you depend."