Published 2 minutes ago
Reading Time: 7 minutes
Most of Israel's major Jewish-led political parties avoid relying on the support of Arab parties.
The reasons behind this are fear of electoral loss, differences over Israel's national identity and security policies. Apart from this, the tendency to keep the representatives of Arab citizens politically isolated for a long time is also considered an important reason.
However, the stance of all parties is not the same. Some Jewish opposition leaders support cooperation with Arab parties. In 2021, an Arab party also joined the government.
The most important issue of this entire controversy is political legitimacy. That is, are Jewish-led parties willing to accept Arab parties not just as elected members of parliament, but as legitimate political partners in running Israel's government?
The dispute in Israel is not just about whether Arab parties can help a coalition win a majority, but also whether their support will be considered a legitimate basis for governing.
What are the reasons?
Dalia Sheindlin, an Israeli political consultant and pollster, argues that opposition leaders fear political backlash if they cooperate with Arab parties, but many voters who want to remove Netanyahu from power are ready to accept such an arrangement.
In his article for 'The Washington Post', Sheindlin said, "Opposition voters are so desperate to oust Netanyahu from power that they are ready to accept the option of joining hands with Arab parties."
The importance of his point is that leaders' claims that their voters would not accept cooperation with Arab parties do not necessarily reflect the actual thinking of all voters.
Skip to Most Read Skip to content
most read
finished
skip ahead podcast
Special stories selected for you, by Nitin Srivastava
Special stories selected for you by Nitin Srivastava
Learn more
finished
In a discussion with 'The New York Times', Sheindlin, a political strategist and senior analyst at 'Haaretz', said about efforts to delegitimize the Arab vote or keep Arab parties out of the coalition-building process, "It is not enough to simply claim democracy through elections. It is also important to maintain the meaning of the process."
His argument is that citizens can elect their MPs, but if other parties systematically refuse to accept those MPs as partners in forming the government, then the political impact of their electoral representation is limited.
In a discussion published in the 'Financial Times' on 29 October, it was emphasized that there is opposition to the alliance from both sides.
Some Arab parties do not want to join a 'Zionist-led' government, while Jewish-led parties are hesitant to include them in the coalition.
In this discussion, the difference between the major Arab parties Ra'am and the Joint List was also clarified. Raam is ready to join the government, while the Joint List is not interested in formally becoming a part of the coalition government.
Refusing to join the cabinet does not necessarily mean that a party is refusing to help keep the alternative government in power.
The ongoing impasse over government formation in Israel highlights the gap between elected representation and power sharing.
Dalia Sheindlin believes that opposition leaders may be exaggerating their voters' opposition to cooperation with Arab parties.
Fear of angering Jewish voters
Opposition leaders worry that Benjamin Netanyahu could target any government that relies on the support of Arab parties as weak on security issues or less committed to maintaining Israel as a Jewish state.
Netanyahu's camp has been using the issue as a major political attack against the opposition.
This pressure has increased further after the attacks led by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
According to media reports, many Jewish opposition leaders believe that any new government in alliance with Arab parties will be difficult to make acceptable among their voters.
This is a concern related to election strategy. This cannot be considered evidence that Arab parties or Arab citizens collectively support Hamas.
Real differences over national identity and security
Many Jewish-led parties consider themselves Zionists. She sees Israel as the 'national homeland' of the Jewish people.
At the same time, representatives of Arab parties also include citizens who consider themselves Palestinians and question some provisions related to Israel's Jewish national identity.
The scope of these differences extends to issues such as the Palestine dispute, military operations and equality within Israel.
Gadi Aizencott has set certain conditions for any coalition partner:
To recognize Israel as a Jewish, democratic, liberal and egalitarian state.
Commitment to Israel's declaration of independence.
Support of military or civilian service for all citizens.
Recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization, which must cease to act as a military and governing force in Gaza.
Some Arab leaders believe that such conditions are like a selective test of loyalty.
Raam Party leader Mansoor Abbas has said that his party had condemned the atrocities of October 7. He has also indicated that Aizencott's conditions should not necessarily become an obstacle to negotiations.
Political boycott and prejudice also play a role
It would be incomplete to look at this issue only from the perspective of policy differences.
Political analyst Dalia Sheindlin has described the opposition's complete refusal to include Arab parties in the government as a self-imposed and racist political restriction.
Other analyzes also state that a section of the political establishment opposes accepting Arab representatives as equal partners in the governance of the Jewish state.
The stance of all Arab parties is not the same
Raam is led by Mansoor Abbas. Abbas is ready to join the coalition government to ensure practical reforms on issues such as crime prevention, housing, infrastructure and municipal funding in Arab communities.
While the Joint List refuses to formally join the Zionist-led coalition government, there is still a possibility of supporting an alternative government from outside, depending on the conditions.
In 2021-22, the Ra'am party joined the coalition government of Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid. It was the first independent Arab party to do so. This example shows that political cooperation with Arab parties is possible, even if it remains controversial.
External support means that a party supports the government during the trust vote in Parliament and other important votes, so that it can remain in power, without formally becoming a part of the coalition government and without holding a ministerial post.
Why is this issue important in the current political impasse?
According to reports on November 3, Netanyahu's coalition has 53 seats, Jewish opposition parties have 48 seats and both Arab parties together have 19 seats.
61 seats are required for a majority in Israel's 120-member parliament (Knesset). This means that the current Jewish-led opposition parties cannot win a majority alone.
Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Liberman oppose reliance on Arab parties.
Yair Golan is in support of a government in which Ra'am is included and the Joint List can provide support from outside.
Bennett argues that the government formed with the support of Arab parties could fall and this could allow Netanyahu to return to power stronger than before.
Opposition leaders want to remove Netanyahu from power, but fear that accepting the support of Arab parties could cause them electoral and ideological losses. Whereas this support may prove necessary for them to form the government.
Download the new BBC World Service app
Choose BBC News Hindi and get news alerts, live TV, podcasts... all in one place.
