Eisenkot Accuses Netanyahu of Fueling 'Racist' Campaign Against Israel's Arab Citizens

On Friday, Gadi Eisenkot, the former military chief now charged with assembling Israel's next government, posted a statement on social media accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of fueling a "racist" campaign against the country's Arab citizens. It was among the sharpest public rebukes he has delivered to his rival over the issue.

The statement came days after Mr. Netanyahu addressed the opening session of the new Knesset and described Arab lawmakers as "terror supporters" and "haters of Israel." Diplomats and analysts condemned the speech as a brazen display of hatred and incitement. Arab citizens make up about 20 percent of Israel's population, and they voted in large numbers in last month's elections, which were inconclusive.

Mr. Eisenkot wrote that since the start of the campaign, Arab citizens had been subjected to a racist and aggressive effort at delegitimization, "fueled by the outgoing prime minister and those around him for political purposes." He said Arab citizens are an integral part of the Israeli story and that it was wrong to malign a whole community. Trying to marginalize and vilify them collectively, he said, is a profound violation of the principles of statesmanship and dishonors the Declaration of Independence and the values of a Jewish and democratic state. That document promises all citizens equal social and political rights regardless of religion, race or sex.

The political stakes are immediate. On Sunday, President Isaac Herzog gave Mr. Eisenkot a mandate to try to form a government, after 67 of the Knesset's 120 members endorsed the opposition leader as prime minister. He has up to six weeks to build a ruling coalition.

Mr. Netanyahu and his allies have claimed, without basis, that Arab voters stole the election, after his bloc won fewer seats than his opponents. The Arab parties have backed Mr. Eisenkot's effort and said they are determined to remove Mr. Netanyahu from power. In his speech, Mr. Netanyahu targeted those parties, which together received more than 835,000 votes. "To those thinking about establishing a government with those people, I say — are you ready to be dependent on those whose goal is the destruction of the Jewish state?" he asked.

Two Arab parties cleared the threshold to enter the Knesset. Raam is a pragmatic Islamist party that has tried to broaden its acceptance by focusing on issues facing Arab citizens, such as violent crime and discriminatory housing policies, more than on the situation of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The Joint List is an alliance of three factions that includes leftists and Palestinian nationalists. It also campaigns for Arab citizens' rights, but it frequently criticizes Israel's treatment of Palestinians and has called itself "a genuine democratic alternative to the racist Zionist consensus."

A sticking point remains. Mansour Abbas, Raam's chairman, has described the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7, 2023, as "saddening, heartbreaking," and Joint List officials have denounced the killing of civilians that day. But neither party will call Hamas a terrorist group, which Mr. Eisenkot has said is a condition for any party that wants to join a government under his leadership.

Nadav Eyal, a leading columnist for the centrist newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, read the statement as a pushback against Mr. Netanyahu's attempts to delegitimize any cooperation with Arab parties. He also saw a message aimed at Arab voters: "He's telling them, 'I see you and I see what they're trying to do you and your representatives.'" Mr. Eyal cautioned, however, that the remarks did not mean Mr. Eisenkot intends to govern with Arab parties' support, especially when "they have trouble saying Hamas is a terrorist organization."

With six weeks on the clock, the question is whether Mr. Eisenkot can assemble a coalition while holding to his Hamas condition and the Arab parties holding to their position.