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Odeh says open to becoming official opposition

18 September 2019 12:59 BST

Aymen Odeh, the leader of the Palestinian Joint List, has said his party may become the official opposition.

With Blue and White and Likud likely to form a unity government, the Join List would be the largest remaining party. It is on course to win 12 to 13 seats.

Ayman Odeh celebrates in Nazareth as the exit polls come in (AFP)
Ayman Odeh celebrates in Nazareth as the exit polls come in (AFP)

Odeh said he's open to the idea of becoming the official leader of the opposition, including “attending security briefings”.

The Joint List leader said “it is possible that we will recommend Blue and White head Benny Gantz [to form a government] to President Reuven. However, we have clear conditoins and based on them we will decide. We want to replace Netanyahu.”

As leader of the opposition, Odeh would meet weekly with the prime minister and attend high-level security briefings. He could conceivably be informed of operations in Gaza, the West Bank and elsewhere.