Amid efforts to form a new government in Israel, Arab political parties have decided to support former military chief Gadi Eisencott. President Isaac Herzog has also invited him to form a government.
Gadi Aizencott will now have 28 days to try to form a new government, including a possible extension of 14 days.
The support of at least 61 lawmakers is required to form a government in Israel's 120-member parliament. A total of 67 MPs from six political parties are said to be supporting Aisenkot.
At the same time, the coalition led by Binyamin Netanyahu has very little support from the majority. For this reason the President did not give him the first chance to form the government.
However, questions have also been raised in pro-Palestinian circles regarding Eisecoat's policies. He has been a part of Netanyahu's war cabinet and his policies on the Palestine issue are also considered strict.
In such a situation, the question is that despite the radical stance of both Netanyahu and Eizenkot, why did the Arab political parties support Eizenkot?
'The aim is to remove Netanyahu'
In fact, this decision of the Arab parties is considered to be more a part of the strategy to keep Netanyahu out of power than an agreement with Eisencott's policies.
Yusuf Jabarin, chairman of the Joint List, an alliance of Arab political parties in Israel, also pointed to the same political compulsion, saying, "We are not choosing between good and better, but we are faced with bad and even worse options."
According to Dr. Fajjur Rahman Siddiqui, a senior fellow at the Delhi-based think-tank Indian Council of Global Affairs (ICWA) and an expert on Middle East affairs, the Arab parties' decision to support Aizencott is more an attempt to keep Netanyahu out of power than to bring him into power.
He says that the priority of Arab parties is not that Aizencott should become Prime Minister or that he himself should become part of the government. His first effort is to prevent Netanyahu from becoming Prime Minister again.
Dr. Siddiqui told BBC News Hindi, "Arab parties know that there is not a big difference in the policies of Netanyahu and Eizenkot on issues like Palestine, Gaza, West Bank and Hamas. In such a situation, supporting Eizenkot does not mean supporting his policies. After what happened in Gaza in the last three years and the way the Netanyahu government treated the Palestinians, for the Arab political parties it is necessary to oust him from power. Keeping it has become a priority."
Arab parties in Israel also do not want to be part of a government whose policies are not acceptable to their voters. For him to do so would be compromising his political base and the trust of the people who voted for him.
Local issues of Arab citizens are also important
Mohammed Ayoub, a retired professor of international studies at Michigan State University, believes that given the role of right-wing leaders like Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich in the Netanyahu government, Arab parties feel that a change in government could create a better political environment to protect the rights of Israel's Arab citizens.
Mohammed Ayoub writes in his blog, "Arab parties also want to use this opportunity to include local and economic issues related to their communities on the political agenda. These issues include implementing a plan with a sufficient budget to curb organized crime in Arab-dominated cities and towns."
Additionally, Arab parties have called for alleviating the housing shortage in their areas and simplifying the government approval process for building new homes. They are also demanding regularization of houses built without approval and stopping the demolition of houses.
Also, there has been a demand to give land to young couples to build houses and to give government recognition to those villages of the Bedouin community, which have not been officially recognized till now.
Issues related to civil and national rights are also on his agenda, along with employment, education and providing adequate resources to local municipalities.
However, these demands are currently the terms of negotiations put forward to the potential alliance. Eisencott has made no promises to accept or implement these.
Qamar Agha, an expert on Middle East affairs, also sees this decision of Arab parties as an attempt to change the political situation.
While talking to BBC News Hindi, he says that Arab political parties were marginalized during the Netanyahu government. In such a situation, he felt that if the government changes, a political opportunity may arise for him.
Qamar Agha said, "The Arab parties have also shown their political strength. They have made it clear that the Arab community, which represents about 20 percent of the population, cannot be ignored in Israel's politics. The Arab parties hope that the Aizencott government will depend on their support. In such a situation, they see the possibility of getting relief on the local and economic issues of their community."
Will Aizencott change his policies to support Arab parties?
Despite the support of Arab parties, it will not be easy for Aizencott to change his policies. A major reason for this is Israel's coalition politics and the influence of right-wing parties.
Governments in Israel often depend on the support of small right-wing parties. If their demands are not met, they withdraw support from the coalition, which leads to the fall of the government.
On the other hand, Eisencott also faces the challenge that a large part of Jewish voters oppose the participation of Arab parties in the government. In such a situation, openly supporting Arab parties may make it difficult for them to retain centrist and right-wing voters.
For this reason, Aizencott has not yet adopted a clear stance regarding support for Arab parties.
Qamar Agha says, "Even if a new government is formed, questions will remain about its stability. It is not unusual in Israeli politics for alliances to break and MPs to change sides. Policy differences between different parties can become a challenge for the government."
According to Dr. Fajjur Rahman Siddiqui, Israel's politics has been unstable for a long time. In such a situation, it is difficult to guarantee the long-term longevity of any alliance.
He says that at present the biggest issue uniting the opposition parties is to keep Netanyahu out of power. Additionally, Israeli citizens also increasingly want to focus on everyday issues such as inflation, education, health and social security rather than issues related to security and war.
