Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Yashar! party leader Gadi Eisenkot on Saturday evening to meet behind closed doors, without preconditions, and reach an agreement on forming a unity government.
In a statement, Netanyahu said, "On Thursday, I had an important conversation with Gadi Eisenkot. Gadi and I have known each other for many years, since his tenure as IDF chief of staff and even before that. This meeting only reinforced my understanding of how essential it is at this time to establish a national unity government - a government that includes all parties that support the existence of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people, and that can meet the enormous and complex security challenges ahead of us."
He added, "The Iranian regime, which seeks Israel's destruction, is once again working to revive its nuclear program. And let there be no doubt: This murderous regime, which did not hesitate to murder many thousands of its own people, will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons against us. It will do so the moment it manages to resume uranium enrichment and accelerate the development of nuclear weapons. We must do everything to continue preventing it from doing so, as we did in 'Rising Lion' and 'Roaring Lion,' when we averted the immediate threat of annihilation. We must remove this existential threat once and for all."
Netanyahu stressed, "A narrow government, or a government that relies on supporters of terrorism, will not be able to meet this immense challenge. But a national unity government will be able to do so in time, thereby ensuring Israel's security for many years."
The prime minister reiterated his call to establish a broad national government, saying, "A national unity government will answer the yearning I hear from many of you, citizens of Israel - the yearning for national reconciliation, for reconciliation among ourselves. Because, like me, you understand that at this time we must act together: Elisha Medan with Elyasaf Peretz, Talik Gvili with Shira Shapira, a vast Zionist public joining forces to secure Israel's future."
Addressing Eisenkot, Netanyahu said, "Gadi, instead of trying to form a shaky and dangerous government that will be unable to meet even a fraction of the enormous security and national challenges we face, let us do what is needed: enter a room, without preconditions, set aside all our disagreements and boycotts, and reach agreements for Israel's security and future, including on the issue of military conscription, which can be resolved together with representatives of the haredi public. The necessary response to those who deliberately walked out during the singing of Hatikvah is to establish a government of hope - a national unity government."