Sonn Har Melech Calls for New Elections and Warns Against Arab-Backed Government

Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Sonn Har Melech called for new elections and opposed a unity government in an interview at the Knesset on November 10, the day the new parliament was inaugurated. She also warned parties against forming a government dependent on support from Arab parties. Later that evening, she said she had submitted legislation to dissolve the 26th Knesset. In her own announcement, Sonn Har Melech said: “On the day the 26th Knesset was inaugurated, I submitted a bill to dissolve it.” She cited suspicions of election falsification, corruption, misleading voters and foreign interference, as well as what she described as parties breaking their promises. In the interview, she alleged that the elections had been stolen. The interviewer distinguished suspected attempts to influence voters from falsified ballots or altered election results; she maintained that the conduct at issue was illegal. Sonn Har Melech said her party had sought another election since the results were announced. Asked about disqualifying Arab parties, she supported that course and accused their lawmakers of supporting terrorism and rejecting Israel’s existence. She said she would work to prevent those parties from entering the next Knesset. Explaining her opposition to unity arrangements, she cited three and a half years on the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and argued that fundamental security disagreements would obstruct decisions across the fighting fronts. She also argued that individual right-wing lawmakers’ views could be overridden by party policy and coalition discipline when votes were held.