Netanyahu Ally Reached Out to Mansour Abbas in Attempt to Persuade Him Not to Back an Eisenkot-Led Government

In depth

Nathan Ashel, an ally of Benjamin Netanyahu, contacted Ra'am party chairman Mansour Abbas several times before the elections, during them and after them. According to the contacts, Ashel sought to persuade Abbas not to support the formation of a government led by Gadi Eisenkot. The contacts continued alongside Netanyahu's public attack on the Arab parties.

As part of the contacts, Ashel asked Abbas: "Will you help Eisenkot in the Knesset, even though he doesn't want you in the coalition?" Ashel then initially denied the matter, and then claimed: "I just asked some Arabs if they have a shred of self-respect". In the Likud, they said that the prime minister was surprised by the contacts and that they were not made with his knowledge.