In an effort to gain support for the anti-Netanyahu bloc, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz met Tuesday with Ra'am leader MK Mansour Abbas with a request to back their candidate to form a coalition. Discussions between the two are expected to span several days.
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Sources close to Abbas told Israel Hayom that the Ra'am chief did not initiate the meeting, nor did he reveal his intentions or plans.
Earlier on Tuesday, Gantz published a post on Facebook in which he addressed Abbas and Yamina leader Naftali Bennett, explaining that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was using them.
After the government is formed, "Abbas and Bennett will turn into Netanyahu's hostages," the post said. "There is only one way to prevent this: to form an honest government without Netanyahu and to appoint a Knesset speaker from the block for change."
Meanwhile, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman announced on the weekend his plans to back Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid as a candidate for forming a coalition.
Lapid convened with Abbas as well. He also met with Gantz for the first time since their falling out after the previous elections.
The two leaders met to "discuss ways to form a government and replace Netanyahu," Yesh Atid and Blue and White said in a statement. It also noted that the two are expected to continue talks in the upcoming days.
Lapid is also scheduled to meet with representatives of the Joint Arab List this week. MK Aida Touma-Sliman said that the party would support a candidate who would "compromise and renounce Netanyahu's right-wing policies."
"It can't be that we are the only ones being asked to compromise on our principles," she said.
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