Netanyahu calls for a national unity government to "permanently remove" Iran's nuclear threat

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday evening called on every party in the national camp and every Zionist party to join a national unity government, a day before President Isaac Herzog is set to hand out the mandate to form Israel's next government.

"This is a time for unity," Netanyahu said in a recorded video statement, his second since election day. "A national unity government will permanently remove the nuclear threat from Iran, preserve Israel as a Jewish state, and bring unity among us."

Netanyahu warned that some intend to rush a government into office "with supporters of terror," arguing that a coalition dependent on Islamist parties "will not remove the existential threat from Iran" and "will not protect our soldiers." The choice, he said, is "not national suicide, but national unity."

Gadi Eisenkot's bloc of four Zionist opposition parties holds 48 seats and has so far ruled out sitting with Netanyahu, instead pursuing a fast-tracked "emergency government" of its own. Likud remains the largest party with 27 seats; Netanyahu's bloc holds 53, and Arab parties hold 19.