Electoral bloc has lost key members and looks to regroup ahead of April 9 vote
The Israeli-Arab political scene is undergoing a major shake-up, with Joint List parliamentarians Jamal Zahalka (Balad), Haneen Zoabi (Balad) and Dov Khenin (Hadash) announcing they will not seek re-election in the upcoming April 9 vote. Long-time legislator Ahmad Tibi (Ta’al) concurrently withdrew his party from the bloc in order to run on an independent ticket.
The Joint List, composed of Balad, Hadash, Ta’al and Ra’am (United Arab List), was created ahead of the last national elections after the electoral threshold was raised to 3.25 percent, an increase that might have prevented smaller parties from entering parliament on their own. The alliance won 13 mandates in 2015, making it the third-largest party in the most recent legislature behind Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud (30 seats) and the Zionist Union (24 seats). Notably, the latter bloc comprising Avi Gabbay’s Labor and Tzipi Livni’s Hatnua also recently split.
Khenin was the only Jewish lawmaker in the Joint List and fellow Hadash parliamentarian Yousef Jabareen insisted to The Media Line that the party “already has [other] candidates [to replace him], so a Jewish activist will likely be elected since we are based on the principle of having both Jews and Arabs.
“The process should be completed by the beginning of February” he revealed.
Regarding Tibi’s announcement, Jabareen stressed that, “I hope that it’s not his final word and I continue to believe that all [elements in the Joint List] could still find a way to keep the [bloc] together: Our strength is in unity.”
Professor Raphael Cohen-Almagor, Director of the Middle East Study Group at the University of Hull in the United Kingdom, explained to The Media Line that “the Joint List was formed out of necessity and not out of a uniformity of ideas. [For his part], Tibi does not wish to continue compromising.”
Nevertheless, current polls predict that Tibi’s party lacks the necessary support to enter the next parliament, whereas the Joint List is expected to receive 9-12 seats.
“Maybe this [jockeying] is just spin, part of internal party negotiations with respect to ranking candidates and who eventually gets what,” Prof. Cohen-Almagor opined. “Personal issues are no less powerful than ideological ones.”
Amal Jamal, Professor of Political Science at Tel Aviv University, contended to The Media Line that “on a symbolic level, the [Joint List] is a major strategic achievement as the Arab community believes that [its representatives] are responsive to their needs.
“The parties that [work on behalf of] the Palestinian community inside Israel are unique in that they are the only genuine democratic political parties in the Arab world outside those of Tunisia.”
Many members of the Joint List identify more closely with the Palestinians and have thus worked—often controversially—to advance their cause. For example, Zoabi in 2010 partook in the infamous Mavi Marmara flotilla that attempted to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, an ordeal that ended with the deaths of nine Turks in clashes with Israeli forces. Such instances have provoked commonplace dust-ups pitting the likes of Zoabi against hawkish Jewish counterparts, some of whom are equally notorious for labeling Arab lawmakers “terrorists” and encouraging them to serve in the Ramallah-based government headed by Mahmoud Abbas.
In between flare-ups over the peace process, however, the Joint List ostensibly has worked to improve the living standards of Israel’s Arab minority, comprising about 1.8 million citizens or just over 20% of the total population.
“Our major strengths have been in the socio-economic [realm], education and development and we anticipate to continue [promoting] those areas,” Jabareen told The Media Line. “It was almost impossible to influence political issues [in the latest parliament] with the right-wing [governing coalition], but through persistent pressure we were able to guarantee the allocation of more budgets for Arab localities.”
By most accounts, the most significant measure passed was the “Economic Development Plan for the Arab Sector,” which will pump about $4 billion into Arab communities over the next five years in the largest-ever effort to close the economic gap between the Jewish and Arab publics.
Given that the Joint List sat in the opposition, members of the Likud were eager to claim at least partial responsibility for the initiative.
“The government, led by Prime Minister Netanyahu, is doing a lot for the Israeli-Arab sector,” Ethiopia-born lawmaker Avraham Neguise (Likud) emphasized, adding that, “as I understand it, [we are] doing a lot to improve their lives.”
He nevertheless took issue with what he described as “provocative” acts by members of the Joint List, highlighting their reaction to the widely-opposed Nation-State Law that granted quasi-constitutional standing to Israel’s Jewish character while omitting any reference to the democratic imperative of upholding equal rights for all.
“Look at how they acted [by tearing copies of the law in protest and referring to it as ‘racist’ and an example of ‘apartheid’],” he said. “Even though their agenda and ideology are different, they are represented in [parliament] because of Israel’s democracy, and that’s how they respond.”
One of the reasons that Prime Minister Netanyahu has remained in power for ten years is the ideological shift to the right among Israelis, which analysts largely attribute to the failures of the Oslo Accords. Perhaps the turning point was the Second Intifada, a period from 2000-2005 characterized by Palestinian suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians. The recurring violence initiated by the Hamas terror group in Gaza since the Israeli army unilateral withdrew from the enclave in 2005 has, for many, cast further doubt on the land-for-peace paradigm.
Another mitigating factor remains the Arab parties’ flat-out unwillingness to throw their lot in with even left-leaning, pro-peace parties (although this position is today shared by Labor chief Gabbay who recently declared that, “I do not see anything that connects us to them [Joint List] or allows us to be in the same government.”)
“All the Jewish parties, from [far-left] Meretz to the ultra-Orthodox, are Zionist and pro-Jewish identity of the state and promote policies that advance these goals,” Prof. Jamal of Tel Aviv University told The Media Line. “In contrast, the Arab parties want equality for all citizens regardless of nationality or religious affiliation. This is the basic rift between them.”
When asked about creating alliances with Jewish-majority parties, parliamentarian Jabareen kept the door slightly ajar. “Ad hoc [cooperation] is an option based on certain issues. For instance, the Joint List along with the Zionist Union, Meretz and [centrist] Yesh Atid recently attempted to pass a bill regarding violence against women. [However, it failed to receive the requisite number of votes].
“A coalition,” he continued, “could happen if there is a serious willingness by a potential left-wing government to proceed with policies that promote peace and equality for Arab citizens. This [would first require] a dramatic change in the political map.”
Lawmaker Neguise agrees that this prospect is “theoretically possible, but practically we’ll have to see. There are already Israeli-Arabs in Jewish parties like Meretz and Labor.” In this respect, it is worthwhile noting that a Muslim Arab earlier this month announced she will run in the soon-to-be-held Likud primaries. Thereafter, Dima Tayeh’s family released a statement denouncing her positions and explaining that “we will not make contact with her or give her any assistance until she…declares loyalty to her people and her faith.”
In terms of ending the conflict with the Palestinians, Neguise suggests that “all Israelis want peace—the problem is that there is no responsible, united democratic leadership that calls for this on the other side. The Arab parties need to [recognize such] and stand with Israeli policy.”