Tibi shows text messages from Netanyahu aide seeking Arab party’s cooperation against Eisenkot

Joint List MK Ahmad Tibi shows text messages he has received from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s longtime confidant Natan Eshel, in which the latter expresses interest in securing the support of the Arab-majority party’s assistance in thwarting measures by Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot’s bloc in the Knesset.

Tibi tells Channel 12 during an interview that the texts show the hypocrisy of Netanyahu’s campaign in delegitimizing cooperation with the Arab parties, given that the Likud party has had no problem seeking their support when it suits them.

He says that a minister from Netanyahu’s government also approached him this week, urging Tibi not to vote in favor of establishing an Eisenkot-led government and to push for another round of elections.

Tibi says he told the minister that the Joint List does not want another election, but rather to replace Netanyahu and his far-right ministers who have incited against Israel’s 2 million Arab citizens, with the assistance of Shin Bet chief David Zini.

Zini has reportedly sought to detain Arab party leaders for questioning over alleged foreign election interference, even though he has no incriminating evidence against them. When he was told by the attorney general that such questioning would be illegal without prior evidence, he reportedly responded by saying that he should be allowed to question them and then he would be able to secure the evidence, in comments that appeared to show a dismissal of democratic norms.

אחמד טיבי חושף את החיזורים של הליכוד אחריו – וואטסאפים שיש לו גם אחרי הבחירות pic.twitter.com/kWsPNJjy9W

— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) November 13, 2026