Netanyahu invites Arab party leader to meeting

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday invited the leader of the Joint Arab list Ayman Odeh in a bid to reconcile with the Arab community, Israeli media reported.

Last month on Election Day, Netanyahu posted a video on Facebook appealing to his supporters to get out and vote to balance the “droves of Arabs” making their way to polling stations.

He said: “The rule of the right [extremist Israeli parties] is in danger… Arab voters are coming in droves to the ballot boxes. Left-wing NGOs are bringing them in buses.”

He called for his supporters to “go out to the polling stations; bring your friends and family members.”

The Arab List in the Knesset includes 12 Arabs and Odeh, who rebuked Netanyahu. The party accepted the invitation saying it would discuss the Arabs’ needs with him.

Odeh said his party would use the meeting to object to home demolitions, push for recognition of Bedouin towns in the Negev, and advance his equality plan for Israeli Arab citizens.

“I would like to believe that Netanyahu understands the terrible mistakes he made recently, but it seems that this is only a cosmetic move for the media,” Times of Israel reported Odeh as saying.

“His office leaks the information about the meeting to the media even before it was scheduled. We want a work meeting, not a PR meeting,” Odeh said.