Netanyahu's Knesset opening speech draws incitement accusations

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at the swearing-in of the 26th Knesset on November 10, 2026, is criticized by multiple sources as inciting against Arab citizens and parties, with comparisons to extremist rhetoric and warnings of potential violence.

Veteran commentator Shimon Shivas compares Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at the swearing-in of the 26th Knesset to the rhetoric of Rabbi Meir Kahane and the "Kach" movement from 1988. Shivas cites verbal parallels: Kahane called Israeli Arabs a "time bomb," Netanyahu called their representatives a "Trojan horse" and claimed that every moderate word from them is a "loophole." Shivas notes that in 1988, the Likud worked to disqualify Kahane, whereas Netanyahu brought his successors into the Knesset, and one of them serves as a senior minister in his government. The article calls for forming a government in partnership with Ra'am to curb the incitement, warning that a state that denies the legitimacy of the Arab voice cannot endure as both Jewish and democratic.