Arab Israeli Citizens Back Political Partnership With Jewish Parties, Survey Finds
Mansour Abbas, leader of United Arab List, votes in his hometown of Maghar in northern Israel, March 23, 2021. (Mohammad Zbaidat)

Arab Israeli Citizens Back Political Partnership With Jewish Parties, Survey Finds

A new survey by Tel Aviv University has found that a clear majority of Arab citizens of Israel want to see Arab political parties represented in the next Israeli government, pointing to growing interest in Jewish-Arab political cooperation following the recent war between Israel and Iran.

According to the findings released Sunday, 73.2% of Arab Israeli respondents support the inclusion of an Arab party in a future coalition. Of those, 41.8% are open to joining any political bloc, while 31.4% favor only center-left alignments.

The poll also indicated an upswing in expected voter turnout. If elections were held today, 57% of Arab voters would likely cast ballots—an increase over the 53.2% turnout in the 2022 elections.

Support for political cooperation across ethnic lines remains relatively strong: 66% of Arab Israelis believe such cooperation is important. But only 40.2% think the Jewish public feels the same, revealing a gap in mutual trust or perception.

In terms of personal security, the picture is more troubling. Some 75.4% of respondents said they feel unsafe, largely due to ongoing crime in Arab towns and the fallout from the Gaza conflict. Nonetheless, 64% described their financial situation as relatively good.

The survey reflects deeper shifts in political engagement and civic confidence among Arab citizens, who make up about 21% of Israel’s population and have long struggled with underrepresentation and economic disparity.

TheMediaLine
WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE TO CHANGE THE MISINFORMATION
about the
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR?
Personalize Your News
Upgrade your experience by choosing the categories that matter most to you.
Click on the icon to add the category to your Personalize news
Browse Categories and Topics