MK Ahmed Tibi (Joint List) revealed messages on Friday evening that he claimed to have received from Natan Eshel, a close associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who previously served as his chief of staff. Tibi displayed the messages during a live appearance on Channel 12's "Ofira Ohana Seri" program.
"I usually don't reveal private conversations. You hypocrite, you sent your personal aide to me on October 20, a week before the elections. You sent him again on October 21, and also at 11:30 p.m. after the results were announced on Election Day," Tibi claimed, addressing Netanyahu directly.
Tibi alleged that the Prime Minister was concerned about legislation that would prevent a person under criminal indictment from serving as Prime Minister. "You tried to convince us not to support the law," he added.
When asked to show the messages to the camera, Tibi turned his cellphone screen toward the camera and said, "I'm going to do something I've never done before," displaying the alleged correspondence with Eshel.
Tibi further claimed that Netanyahu had reached out to him on Election Day in an attempt to "dissuade us from joining Eisenkot."
Addressing Netanyahu directly through the television cameras, Tibi continued: "Two days ago, one of your ministers approached me behind the Knesset plenum and told me, 'Ahmed, don't believe them. They won't give you anything, they won't take you into the coalition. It's better for us to go to elections.' I replied, 'I don't want elections. We want to bring down Netanyahu and that ‘Abu Nafkha’ (an insulting Arabic nickname roughly meaning Mr. Blowhard -ed.) Ben Gvir.'"
Tibi concluded with a direct message to the Prime Minister: "We will bring you down, you inciter. You spread hatred. You want to delegitimize two million citizens through the head of the Shin Bet."
Tibi’s comments follow a report earlier this week on Channel 12 News, alleging that Eshel 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.
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 draft 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.
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)