Democratic Union leader Yair Golan stated that he would form a coalition with Mansour Abbas's Ra'am party, arguing that the Islamist party is preferable to Religious Zionism and that former defense chiefs Avigdor Liberman and Gadi Eisenkot have worked with Ra'am before and would do so again.
Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats (formerly Meretz and Labor), made the declaration Monday afternoon, according to a statement posted by reports from a linked the source. Golan said: "We will establish a government with Mansour Abbas. Liberman worked with them, Bennett worked with them in the previous government — it will work excellently, and Gadi Eisenkot will work with them too. Ra'am and Mansour Abbas are preferable to Religious Zionism and Smotrich." The comment is the latest in a series of coalition positioning statements from the anti-Netanyahu camp. Golan has previously said he would fight Jewish terrorism and reinstate administrative detention. Ra'am, an Arab-Islamist party led by Mansour Abbas, joined Bennett's coalition in 2021 and was the first independent Arab party to serve in an Israeli government.
- DevelopingYair Golan calls on his bloc to embrace Mansour Abbas to block Netanyahu coalition
- DevelopingIllouz, now in Yisrael Beiteinu, says government with Yair Golan preferable to one with Haredim
- StrongReligious Zionism warns Democrats primary will elect left-wing government, names Golan, Lazimi, Pink
- DevelopingYair Golan pledges to fight Jewish terrorism, reinstate administrative detention
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