The events of the past two days — the killing of Islamic Jihad senior Bahaa Abu el-Atta and the ensuing rocket fire from Gaza — only worsened the dilemma Arab-Israeli Knesset members are facing. Just a few hours before Abu el-Atta was killed, knowing that this action would provoke a conflict with Gaza and generate rocket fire, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a warning to Blue and White leader Benny Gantz over coalition talks. Netanyahu warned Gantz against considering a minority government supported by the Joint List, tweeting that Arab Knesset member "Ahmad Tibi once wrote about [PLO leader] Yasser Arafat that he will stay in their hearts forever. This is the man Gantz and [Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor] Liberman are counting on for a government? A minority government supported by the Arab parties equals danger to Israel."

The prevailing atmosphere in Israel would surely make it difficult on Gantz, and more so on Liberman, to establish such a government. But also within the Joint List, which was considering supporting a Gantz government from the outside, things have changed. Knesset members Aida Touma-Sliman and Ofer Kasif demonstrated against the killing of Abu el-Atta, and the Likud was quick to repeat its claim that the Arab lawmakers keep supporting terrorists.

Netanyahu and the Likud’s claims that the Arab Knesset members are Hamas supporters got another push the past two days with the Gaza escalation, but this was certainly not the first time they have advanced this argument. In a Nov. 11 speech at a conference hosted by the conservative Makor Rishon newspaper, Netanyahu declared that such a government poses a threat to Israel’s security. Netanyahu then appealed directly to Gantz, saying, “These are the people with whom you want to form a government? This is a direct slap in the face of the soldiers that you and I sent into battle.” Netanyahu was essentially calling the move treason. To prove his point, Netanyahu brought up an incident during the 2014 war in Gaza that he led with Gantz. “Do you remember what Tibi did during the operation? He read from the Knesset podium the names of the terrorists who were killed and said that the IDF is committing war crimes."

Not to be outdone, Tibi tweeted back, “I mentioned the names of children and their mothers killed by rockets directed at their homes. Netanyahu, you are lying and misleading. They were not terrorists, they were martyrs, victims, children with a name. … Under pressure, Netanyahu continues to incite and lie. You have to get out or be kicked out.”