Joint List leader Ayman Odeh slammed Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, calling him “the man who came up with the idea of transferring [Arab-Israelis out of Israel]” and added that Liberman is also “against Arab-Israelis [even] voting.”
“We will not support any [coalition meant to form a] government Liberman sits in,” he said.
According to the "Deal of the Century" announced by US President Donald Trump, Israel may hand over to the future Palestinian state a portion of land currently heavily populated by Arabs. Within the context of the peace plan, these residents would not leave their homes as their homes would be within a Palestinian state. Jewish communities in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley would be added to Israel. Meaning nobody would actually be transferred.
“Unless we hear from [Blue and White leader Benny] Gantz a very clear objection to this transfer and annexation [plan],” Odeh warned, “there is no way we would support him” when he seeks a majority in Knesset.
Odeh claimed his party will win 16 seats in the March elections, which will enable him to form a government with Gantz without Yisrael Beytenu.
Liberman responded on social media saying that it is clear now that his party is a “defense wall against the fifth column.”
Liberman had repeatedly called the Joint List a fifth column, meaning that, in his mind, the party is aiding and abetting the enemies of the Jewish state.
The term "fifth column" hails back to the days of the Spanish Civil War in which General Emilio Mola argued his four columns of soldiers will get aid from supporters inside the city of Madrid, which he called “the fifth column.” The expression became widely used to mean any group which is cahoots with a real, or imaginary, enemy.