Israel Prize laureate Miriam Peretz, the mother of Yashar MK Elisaf Peretz, said her son would leave the Knesset if his party joined a government with an Arab party.
Peretz made the remarks in an interview with Lamshi and Gedlovitch on Kol Barama Radio, amid ongoing negotiations over the formation of the next government.
"If my son's party sits with an Arab party, he will leave the Knesset. Under no circumstances will an Arab party be allowed to decide whether to go into battle," Peretz declared.
Asked whether her son would defect from the party, she replied, "Pressure is being exerted even these days. People are writing to me and to him and taking action in ways I will not detail. One day, these things will come to light."
Just two days earlier, at her son's swearing-in ceremony at the Knesset, Peretz had struck a different tone, emphasizing the importance of unity and working on behalf of all Israeli citizens.
"I hope he will bring hope, a different kind of discourse to this house. This is the house of this entire people, and it should be a place where there is discourse of light, of hope, of faith, of peace, of love, of unity, and of action on behalf of all Israeli citizens," she said.
Representing Mount Herzel's spirit of unity
Peretz, who attended the ceremony after visiting Mount Herzl, also reflected on the significance of the occasion for bereaved families.
"I came from Mount Herzl. Bereaved families have moments of pain and days of joy. This is a day of joy."
She went on to express her hope that her son would bring the same spirit of unity represented at Mount Herzl to his work in the Knesset.
"Just as at Mount Herzl there is an immigrant from Ukraine, a Moroccan, an Ashkenazi, and a Sephardi, I hope that here, too, he will know how to work with his colleagues on behalf of all the citizens of the State of Israel," she said.
Would MK Elisaf Peretz support Arab parties in gov't?
Her latest remarks come amid political discussions over the potential involvement of Arab parties in forming the next government, raising questions about whether Elisaf Peretz would support such an arrangement.
Elisaf Peretz, who entered the Knesset on Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party list, has previously opposed serving in a government alongside non-Zionist parties.
In an interview ahead of the elections, he made clear that he opposed forming a coalition with Arab parties and identified the establishment of a Zionist government as a central political goal.
However, while the MK has previously expressed his opposition to such a partnership, his mother has now gone further, explicitly stating that he would leave the Knesset if his party entered into such an arrangement.
Elisaf Peretz has not publicly responded to his mother's remarks.