Survey Finds Majority of Left-Wing Israelis Want Arab Joint List in Government
A majority of Israelis who self-identify as left wing want the Arab Joint List to sit in Israel’s next government, a survey shows. Some 62% of left-wing Israelis responded that they want the Joint List in the government, with 20% opposed and 18% with no opinion, the Panels Politics Research survey conducted by Menachem Lazar found, the Jerusalem Post reported on Monday.
The survey also found that the right-wing is nearly equally split on the possibility of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party becoming part of the next government. According to the survey, 37% of Israelis who identify themselves as right wing said they were in favor of Otzma Yehudit joining a new government, 31% are opposed and 32% said they did not know.
The Joint List, which achieved 15 Knesset seats in the last election, is marking its fifth year. Last week, the Islamist Ra’am party broke away from the alliance. The Joint List is now comprised of the Hadash, Balad and Ta’al parties. The Otzma Yehudit party, which promotes the anti-Arab ideals of Rabbi Meir Kahane, joined forces for the election with the Religious Zionism Party.
