Israel's prime minister-designate Gadi Eisenkot accused caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday of fuelling a “racist and violent” campaign against Arab citizens following the October 27 election.
Eisenkot said political attacks on the community, which he put at 21% of Israel's population, were unacceptable.
Eisenkot said attempts to marginalise Arab citizens collectively undermined Israel, and argued that a prime minister must represent citizens regardless of how they voted.
Netanyahu has criticised Arab-party lawmakers for allegedly refusing to recognise Israel as a Jewish state or call Hamas a terrorist organisation following its October 7, 2023 attack.
In a November 10 parliamentary speech, Netanyahu said his criticism targeted politicians rather than Arab voters generally, declaring: “I am not talking about Arabs.”
Leaders of the Arab parties condemned the Hamas-led attack, and Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas has previously recognised Israel as a Jewish state, according to The Guardian.
Netanyahu has also alleged electoral fraud involving Arab-majority parties.
Israel's Central Elections Committee certified the results on November 4, finding no evidence that the outcome was compromised.
Official Knesset results show Eisenkot's four-party alliance won 48 of 120 seats, compared with 53 for Netanyahu's camp.
The Joint List secured 11 seats and Ra'am eight, giving the two Arab-led parties a combined 19 seats.
A majority in the Knesset is 61 seats.
President Isaac Herzog gave Eisenkot the mandate to form a government on November 8, after 67 lawmakers recommended him, against 46 for Netanyahu, with seven abstaining.
United Torah Judaism's seven lawmakers, part of Netanyahu's 53-seat camp, withheld their endorsement, The Times of Israel reported.
Those recommendations do not constitute commitments to join a coalition.
Eisenkot has resisted governing with Arab-led parties, while ally Avigdor Lieberman has said he would not join a coalition including them.
Eisenkot said negotiations were progressing but announced no agreement.
Under Israeli law, he has 28 days to assemble a government, with a possible 14-day extension.
He also confirmed meeting Netanyahu for a security briefing on Thursday and called for scrutiny of the caretaker administration's decisions.