{"schema_version":1,"citation_url":"https://567politics.com/news/israel-netanyahu-knesset-speech-arab-parties-eisenkot-abbas-hamas-recognition-november-2026","title":"Netanyahu uses Knesset debut to warn against Arab parties as Eisenkot courts Ra'am","description":"Eisenkot called the speech 'delusional' and 'hate-filled.' Abbas said joining a coalition is Ra'am's right, amid reports he may label Hamas a terror group.","author":"567 Politics staff","publisher":"567politics","date_published":"2026-11-10T17:12:42.365145Z","date_modified":"2026-11-10T17:13:03.287711Z","body_markdown":"Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu](/politicians/benjamin-netanyahu) used his first speech to Israel's newly sworn-in 26th Knesset on Tuesday to warn against any government that relies on Arab-led parties. Those parties, he said, reject Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. His rival [Gadi Eisenkot](/politicians/gadi-eisenkot), who holds the mandate to form a government, called the speech \"delusional, divisive, hate-filled and shameful.\" Hours earlier, United Arab List leader [Mansour Abbas](/politicians/mansour-abbas) said his party wants to join the next coalition, and Israeli media reported he had agreed in principle to recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization, one of Eisenkot's four conditions for partners.\n\nThe exchange shows the central problem of the coalition talks. Neither bloc has a majority without help. The two Arab-led alliances hold 19 seats, and whether and how they take part will decide whether Eisenkot can govern, whether Netanyahu can return, or whether Israel heads toward another election.\n\n## The seat arithmetic\n\nNetanyahu's bloc won 53 of the Knesset's 120 seats in October's election, and Eisenkot's four-party bloc won 48, the [BBC reported](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crd939lpzjp9o). Neither reaches the 61 needed for a majority. The United Arab List won eight seats and the Joint List 11, an unprecedented combined total after a surge in Arab turnout. A full breakdown of the result is in an [earlier 567 Politics report on the final count](/news/israel-final-count-53-48-19-allegations-october-2026).\n\n```chart\ntype: column\ntitle: Seats in Israel's 26th Knesset by bloc\nnote: 61 seats are needed for a majority. The four groups together make up all 120 seats, so the 13 seats of the ultra-Orthodox parties fall within Netanyahu's 53.\nsource: [BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crd939lpzjp9o)\n---\nBloc | Seats\nNetanyahu bloc | 53\nEisenkot bloc | 48\nJoint List | 11\nUnited Arab List | 8\n```\n\nThe chart shows why both leaders are focused on the Arab parties. Eisenkot's bloc plus the United Arab List would reach 56. Adding outside support from the Joint List would give 67 votes against Netanyahu, but not a coalition of 61 members. Netanyahu has ruled out governing with the Arab parties, and three of the parties in Eisenkot's bloc have opposed including them, according to the BBC.\n\nEisenkot was tasked with forming a government after more lawmakers recommended him than Netanyahu, even though not all of them are willing to govern together. He has 28 days, with a possible two-week extension. Netanyahu stays on as caretaker prime minister in the meantime.\n\n## What Netanyahu said\n\nNetanyahu spoke after the swearing-in ceremony in Jerusalem. He opened with Iran. Tehran is working to renew its nuclear threat, he said, and \"the only way to permanently remove this existential threat is through the downfall of the Ayatollah regime,\" [The Jerusalem Post reported](https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-914488). He warned that Israel would soon face international pressure to accept Iran as a nuclear power and to \"retreat from its monumental achievements\" in security zones. Only a national unity government, he said, could meet those challenges.\n\nHe then turned to the Arab parties. \"Here in the Knesset, there is serious talk of forming a narrow government, a government that includes terror supporters who hate Israel or one that will be dependent on them,\" Netanyahu said, according to [Haaretz's live coverage](https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-politics/2026-11-10/ty-article-live/israels-knesset-live-updates/000001a1-c314-d29f-afb5-d3751e590000). \"What is the true goal of these parties? Merely to improve the social conditions of the Arab public in Israel? We have no problem with that. But that is not their real goal.\"\n\nHe said there was no difference between the United Arab List and the Joint List. \"The only difference is that they disagree on what kind of state will be established here on the ruins of the Jewish state,\" he said. One would be \"an Islamic state modeled after the Muslim Brotherhood like Hamas in Gaza,\" and the other \"a nationalist Palestinian state modeled after Fatah.\" He added: \"On one thing they agree: Israel, as a Jewish state, has no right to exist!\" Haaretz wrote that in the speech Netanyahu distorted a remark by a United Arab List lawmaker who had said Hamas was founded as a charitable organization.\n\nNetanyahu also said that \"foreign entities suspected of using big money to influence the election results must be thoroughly investigated,\" and that all restrictions imposed by legal advisers on the probe must be lifted. Senior law enforcement officials told Haaretz on Monday that the Shin Bet has so far not produced evidence to support its chief David Zini's claims of foreign interference. That dispute was covered in an [earlier 567 Politics report on the attorney general's findings](/news/israel-attorney-general-no-evidence-close-election-result-shin-bet-probe-fuel-cards-november-2026).\n\nDuring that part of the speech, former prime minister [Naftali Bennett](/politicians/naftali-bennett) shouted: \"What about the Qatari advisers in your office? What about a state commission of inquiry?\" A close Netanyahu aide, Yonatan Urich, is suspected of working on public relations for Qatar while advising the prime minister during the Gaza war, Haaretz noted.\n\n## How his rivals responded\n\nEisenkot answered within the hour. \"I sat and listened to the delusional, divisive, hate-filled and shameful speech of the outgoing prime minister, who abused a state occasion,\" he wrote on X, according to Haaretz. \"I became even more convinced that he is unfit to continue in office for even one more minute. We must act urgently to establish a national emergency government.\"\n\n[Yair Golan](/politicians/yair-golan), leader of the Democrats, wrote: \"Netanyahu finds it difficult to internalize that the Israeli public has sacked him. Now he is lying and inciting against the Arab public in an attempt to cling to power by force.\"\n\nEarlier in the ceremony, President Isaac Herzog had condemned racism. \"There is no place for racism against anyone, and there is no place for violence,\" he said, naming the West Bank hilltops, city streets and schools, Haaretz reported. Outgoing Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana of [Likud](/parties/israel/likud) said the new Knesset held \"an opportunity for unity.\"\n\n## Abbas: 'This is our basic right'\n\nBefore the ceremony, Abbas told his faction that Netanyahu's bloc would soon be in opposition. \"We will continue to advance the move to replace the government, and we aspire to be part of the next coalition or government. This is our basic right,\" he said, according to an AFP-based [report in Türkiye Today](https://www.turkiyetoday.com/region/mansour-abbas-says-netanyahu-bloc-heading-to-opposition-seeks-role-in-eisenkot-led-co-3232136).\n\nEisenkot's four principles for coalition partners are recognition of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, commitment to the Declaration of Independence, a service obligation for all citizens, and recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organization along with the need to destroy its military and governing power in Gaza.\n\n[Ynet reported](https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rkybvtecme) on Tuesday that figures in the change bloc had held intensive talks with Ra'am over the Hamas condition. According to sources involved, Abbas has agreed in principle to it, but wants the bloc to show it is serious about a real partnership. Ynet said the bloc still prefers a government with the ultra-Orthodox parties. Golan confirmed the talks. \"I don't think this is an obstacle for him,\" he said. \"I believe all the statements and declarations will come as a result of negotiations.\"\n\nAbbas did not deny the report. \"Our answer will be given during the negotiations to form the government,\" he said. \"We have condemned every act of terror.\" He said Ra'am backed U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for disarming every armed group that took part in the Oct. 7 attack, and supports \"a sovereign state that controls its territory and does not allow militias and organizations to exist.\"\n\nAt consultations with Herzog last week, Abbas explained why he had not used the words. \"Leave me this space to build a bridge and to influence the other side as well. And leave me room to protect myself and my family,\" he said, according to Ynet. \"We are unequivocally against terrorism and violence against any person.\"\n\nResponding to the \"stolen election\" campaign by the outgoing coalition, Abbas said: \"There is no place for incitement and delegitimization. Meanwhile, those accused of bribery, fraud and breach of trust are the prime minister and a group of his ministers and lawmakers.\"\n\n## The Joint List and Liberman\n\nThe Joint List has said it will support the change bloc from outside government rather than join it. Its leader Yousef Jabareen said: \"The most important decision is to send home the Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich government.\" Ahmad Tibi aimed a message at [Avigdor Liberman](/politicians/avigdor-liberman), whose [Yisrael Beiteinu](/parties/israel/yisrael-beiteinu) has refused to join a minority government that depends on Arab lawmakers. \"I tell Lieberman that 11 seats are more than seven,\" Tibi said, according to Türkiye Today.\n\nTensions also showed in the chamber. As Jabareen took his oath, National Security Minister [Itamar Ben-Gvir](/politicians/itamar-ben-gvir) shouted: \"Swears allegiance to Hamas!\" Joint List lawmakers left the plenum before the national anthem, \"Hatikva,\" and Likud lawmakers heckled them, Haaretz reported. Abbas stayed in the hall during the anthem. Outside, about 200 right-wing protesters rallied against a government backed by Arab-led parties, Haaretz said.\n\nReligious Zionism leader [Bezalel Smotrich](/politicians/bezalel-smotrich) urged Matan Kahana, the change bloc's choice for Knesset speaker, to refuse the post if elected \"under the auspices of the Arab parties,\" calling that \"moral bankruptcy.\" The speaker vote is expected next week. Kahana's nomination was covered in [567 Politics' report on the swearing-in](/news/israel-26th-knesset-sworn-in-kahana-speaker-nomination-signatures-smotrich-utj-conditions-november-2026).\n\n## What comes next\n\nEisenkot has three paths, none simple. He could try to bring in the ultra-Orthodox parties, which hold 13 seats but strongly oppose the conscription changes his whole bloc campaigned on. He could build a minority government backed by Ra'am inside and the Joint List outside, which Liberman has so far rejected. Or he could seek Netanyahu's unity government, which Netanyahu says he would lead. Positions of the parties are compared on [Israel's political spectrum page](/political-spectrum?country=israel).","link_base":"https://567politics.com/news/israel-netanyahu-knesset-speech-arab-parties-eisenkot-abbas-hamas-recognition-november-2026","citation_guidance":"Cite citation_url. Preserve source links, dates and qualifications. date_modified is an edit date, not proof that every claim was rechecked. Third-party images and quoted material retain their own rights."}