Democrats chairman Yair Golan issued a statement on Tuesday, calling on the leaders of the opposition bloc to stop “dancing to Netanyahu’s tune” and to openly declare that Mansour Abbas, chairman of the Ra’am party, is a legitimate partner for forming a government.

“If we must rely on the votes of the Ra’am party in order to bring down the disastrous, corrupt, and most dangerous government to Israel’s security, then Ra’am is a worthy partner,” Golan claimed.

Golan’s remarks were made in the wake of Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich’s comments on Tuesday morning, who spoke harshly against cooperation with Arab parties.

In his full statement, Golan slammed Smotrich: “This morning, once again, Betzalel Smotrich exposed the true and dangerous face of the current government. The extremism he represents is not only dangerous—it is distorted, and it is a dark mindset that we are fighting against.”

Golan even compared Hamas to Smotrich: “The murderous Hamas organization operates out of blind hatred of Jews, and Smotrich, on the other side, prefers to abandon the security of Israeli citizens—just to avoid cooperating with the Arab public and its representatives.” Golan claimed that “those who believe ‘Hamas is an asset’ have formed an alliance with it—this is an alliance of extremists.”

Golan then addressed opposition leaders directly: “I am making a personal and direct appeal to all leaders in the liberal and democratic bloc: the time has come to stop cooperating with this campaign of incitement and delegitimization and to behave like a governing alternative.”

“The appropriate Zionist response to Smotrich’s inflammatory remarks requires a clear leadership decision: to stop dancing to the tune of Netanyahu and his extremist partners, and to declare openly today that Mansour Abbas is a legitimate partner for forming a government.”

In response to Golan’s remarks, Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party issued a statement, saying: “We didn’t think we’d reach this point, but we agree with Yair Golan. Naftali Bennett, Gadi Eisenkot, and Avigdor Liberman—tell the public the truth and don’t hide.”

“Do you commit to a Zionist government in order to pass a draft law and address the security challenges we face, or do you intend to rely on the Arab parties? The public deserves to know the truth.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)