News Item: Arab Islamist Could Decide Next Israeli Prime Minister
The extremely close election in Israel yesterday ended with no clear winner, i.e. no party winning the necessary 61 seats out of 120 seats in the Knesset to form a government. Current Prime Minister Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu, a close pal of seditionist cult leader Donald "Mango Mussolini" Trump, was unable to muster a winning right-wing coalition with his Likud Party. The supreme irony is that a breakaway Arab party headed by Mansour Abbas, holding a decisive 5 seats, may be the kingmaker in forming a government.
According to the Associated Press report:
"To prevail, each side may need the support of an Arab Islamist party that appears to have clinched just five seats in the 120-member Knesset but is not committed to either, according to near-final results.
That means the United Arab List, known by the Hebrew name Ra’am, could decide whether Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, remains in office.
It’s an odd predicament for Netanyahu, who rose to power by rejecting compromise with the Palestinians and has used racist rhetoric in past campaigns to cast the country’s Arab minority as a fifth column of terrorist sympathizers."
The power that Abbas wields by not declaring a side to join is immense. He could hold out for key Cabinet positions, and key programs as a price to side with Netanyahu, despite Netanyahu's long-standing bias against Arab Israelis. Or he could simply join the anti-Netanyahu parties and end Bibi's 15-year hold on the prime ministership. However, Netanyahu said earlier today he won't include Abbas' party in his coalition, so the issue of deals may be moot. Either way, it's deeply satisfying that someone who has long acted against the interests of his Arab citizens would have his political fate decided by them.
(photo: Mansour and Netanyahu; payback time?)
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