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Gantz running mate Ya'alon says there has never been an Arab diplomatic partner

April 8, 2019 at 11:35 am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) gestures as he stands next to the former Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon and Chief of Staff General Benny Gantz (R) at the end of a press conference at the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem, on 27 August 2014 [THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images]

Former Israeli defence minister Moshe Ya’alon, whose Telem party is running in tomorrow’s elections as party of the Blue and White alliance, told Channel 13 yesterday that there has never been an Arab diplomatic partner in the history of Zionism.

According to right-wing news outlet Arutz Sheva, Ya’alon – who, along with Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid, and Gabi Ashkenazi, is one of the top candidates for the Blue and White List – told the interviewer “that in his opinion, there is no difference between Left and Right regarding the question of how to deal with Hamas and other issues.”

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“Instead,” the report added, “the Blue and White party members found common ground in their concern regarding Israel’s social issues and their intent to clear the political field of corruption.”

Ya’alon – who, like Gantz and Ashkenazi, is also a former head of the Israeli military – said that his party “is aiming to win, not lose”, and rejected the idea that the Blue and White list could sit in a Likud-led unity government.

Reiterating “his party’s refusal to sit in a government led by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu”, Ya’alon “added that if Netanyahu steps down, the Likud may be asked to join a government led by the Blue and White party”.

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