JERUSALEM
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Friday that a unified list of Arab-Israeli candidates in the country's next general election would conspire to obliterate Israel's Jewish nature.
In remarks on Twitter, Lieberman, head of the right-wing Yisrael Beitenu party, added that Arab parties – whether Islamist, socialist or jihadist – all strove to achieve one and the same thing: the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state.
"This is what units them," Lieberman said. "This is their goal."
He asserted that this made it necessary for political parties in Israel – especially right-wing ones – to stop being "selfish" and join hands with his Yisrael Beitenu Party against those who sought to destroy the "Jewish state."
Arab parties have agreed to field candidates in Israel's next general election – slated for March 17 – under a unified list.
Around 1.6 million Arabs live in Israel, accounting for roughly 20 percent of the country's 8-million-strong population, according to Israel's official statistics agency.
There are currently 11 Arab members in Israel's 120-member Knesset.
