Saeb Erekat slams Netanyahu’s new ‘government of war’

Ramallah was not pleased on Thursday with the newly-struck coalition deal between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bayit Yehudi.

The 61-member government, formed Wednesday night just before a midnight deadline, “will be one of war which will be against peace and stability in our region,” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told AFP.

The senior Palestinian official said the right-leaning government will “set its sights” primarily on settlement expansion in the West Bank — land the Palestinians want for a future state along with the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu informed Rivlin on Wednesday night that he had succeeded in forming a government with an hour and a half left to build a coalition before the clock struck twelve. The prime minister reached an agreement with Bayit Yehudi that will give the party the Education and Diaspora Affairs portfolios for its leader Naftali Bennett.

 

Read more: http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Saeb-Erekat-slams-new-government-of-war-402355