AL-QUDS — Arab political leaders in Israel say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's apology, for comments he made in last week's national elections that offended members of the Arab community, was not enough. Netanyahu told a gathering of Arab community leaders that he apologized for his election-day warning to supporters that Arab citizens were voting “in droves,” saying that he did not intend to offend. But Arab-Israeli politician Ahmed Tibi told Israel Radio Tuesday that Netanyahu's comment was “not an honest apology.” Aida Touma-Suliman of the Joint List, which received a majority of Arab-Israeli votes, said party representatives were not invited to the gathering where Netanyahu apologized. Arab citizens make up 20 percent of Israel's population. Equality is guaranteed by Israeli law, but many Arabs have long complained of wide-ranging official discrimination. "The rule of the rightwing is in danger. Arab voters are going to the polls in droves!" hawkish Israeli prime minister-elect said in a video on Facebook. "Go to the polling stations! Vote Likud!" Ayman Odeh, deputy leader of the Joint List which groups Israel's main Arab parties and won 13 seats, rejected the apology. "His excuses are not acceptable because not only does Benjamin Netanyahu plan to bring in racist legislation but his words challenged the very right of Arab Israelis to vote for the Knesset," Israel's parliament, he said on television. US President Barack Obama, commenting on Netanyahu's surprise election victory, said: "That kind of rhetoric was contrary to what is the best of Israel's traditions." His chief of staff, Denis McDonough, on Monday took Netanyahu to task over another pre-election pledge, to block the creation of a Palestinian state. "We cannot simply pretend that those comments were never made, or that they don't raise questions about the prime minister's commitment to achieving peace through direct negotiations," he said. Likud's victory has paved the way for the likely emergence of a new rightwing-religious government that may complicate efforts to resurrect the US-sponsored peace process with the Palestinians and pose further challenges for Israel's troubled ties with Washington. Netanyahu is expected to be formally handed the task of building a coalition government on Wednesday after securing the backing of a solid majority of MPs in the 120-seat Knesset. There will then follow weeks of hard-fought coalition horsetrading as Netanyahu's potential partners battle for portfolios and prestige. — Agencies
