Yashar Party leader Gadi Eisenkot has ruled out joining a cabinet led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even if US President Donald Trump asks him to do so, Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported, as opposition parties seek to form a coalition following last week’s parliamentary elections.

The broadcaster, citing unnamed sources, said Monday that Eisenkot made the remarks during a recent closed-door meeting.

“I will not sit in a [cabinet] led by Netanyahu,” he was quoted as saying.

“If Trump invites me, I will respect the president and attend, but I will stress that this concerns internal Israeli affairs, and I will prevent any interference,” Eisenkot added, according to KAN.

The remarks came after Netanyahu expressed willingness to hold talks on forming a broad cabinet while insisting he remain its leader. He also rejected a coalition dependent on the two main Arab parties, Ra’am and the Joint List.

Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats in last week’s parliamentary elections, compared with 48 for the Jewish-led opposition parties and 19 for the Arab parties, leaving neither camp with a majority in the 120-member Knesset.

Naftali Bennett’s Together party, Yair Golan’s Democrats and Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party have decided to recommend Eisenkot to form the next cabinet. Expected recommendations from the two Arab lists could increase his backing to 67 lawmakers.

However, Lieberman’s refusal to join a cabinet that includes Arab parties or relies on their support remains a major obstacle to forming a coalition.

Opposition leaders are scheduled to meet Tuesday to coordinate their positions before President Isaac Herzog begins two days of consultations with parliamentary factions on Wednesday.

Political deadlock looms as exit polls show Israeli parties falling short of Knesset majority: Reports

Exit polls from the Israeli regime’s general election reportedly indicate that both competing parties are projected to fall well short of securing a parliamentary majority.

Arab parties back Eisenkot

Israel’s Arab parties, which secured a record 19 seats in last week’s general election, are set to support opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot’s bloc, further weakening Netanyahu’s chances of forming another administration.

The main Jewish opposition bloc, comprising four parties, fell short of the 61 seats required for a majority in the Knesset. However, joining forces with the two main groups representing Palestinians could help break the political deadlock and avert another election.

The leader of Israel’s main Palestinian coalition, which holds the balance of power following the election, has described the outcome as a historic opportunity to change the regime’s political direction.

Yousef Jabareen, head of the Joint List, said he was prepared to join forces with the “Change” bloc to oust Netanyahu and his far-right coalition and take control of the Knesset.

Turnout among Arab Israelis, Palestinians holding Israeli citizenship who make up about 20 percent of the population, more than doubled to approximately 80 percent, transforming the political landscape. Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza were excluded from the vote.

Jabareen said the primary demand of the approximately 840,000 Palestinian Israeli voters was to remove the Netanyahu cabinet, particularly its most extreme members, the so-called national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

“This has been an awful four years … in all areas of life: in terms of house demolition, criminal gangs within the Arab community without any [intervention] from the police; not allocating the needed resources for our municipalities, for our education, for our youth in general; racism in all areas of life – physical attacks against Arabs, the brutality of the police,” Jabareen told The Guardian in one of his first interviews since the election.

“So this has been really a very dangerous period,” he added.

Jabareen said the coming days would be critical, as Herzog is expected to summon political leaders as early as Wednesday to discuss their recommendations on who should receive the first opportunity to form the next administration.

Although the Arab parties’ backing could strengthen Eisenkot’s bid, accepting their support, either within a governing coalition or from outside it, presents a political challenge for the opposition leader from the right.

Netanyahu and other political leaders have openly used anti-Arab rhetoric to appeal to Jewish voters, making cooperation with the Arab parties a contentious issue in coalition negotiations.