Rivlin rebukes Netanyahu for branding Arab MKs a ‘threat’ to Israel

President Reuven Rivlin wraps up his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Likud party coalition negotiators, with his office saying they have updated him on coalition talks.

“He [Rivlin] is of the opinion that the State of Israel needs as broad a unity government as possible,” the President’s Residence says in a statement.

According to the statement, Rivlin “expressed his strong objection to recent statements against members of the Knesset and Arab population” during the meeting.

Netanyahu has made increasingly dire warnings about a Blue and White minority government backed by the Joint List of majority Arab parties, whose lawmakers he accused earlier this week of wanting “to destroy” Israel.

While Rivlin feels that some comments by Arab MKs “regarding Israeli society, and particularly about IDF soldiers, are grave, shocking and unacceptable,” he opposes characterizing of all Arab lawmakers as a “fifth column” and “threat” to the country’s existence.

“The president said that we who live as sovereigns in our country, the Jewish and democratic State of Israel, must ensure equality of rights and respectful and meaningful discourse with all Israelis,” the statement says.