Israel: Arab parties want to enable Netanyahu's replacement

Tel Aviv. An alliance of Arab parties say they are ready to pave the way for the replacement of the right-wing religious government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. United List leader Yussef Jabarin said the day after the parliamentary election: "The government of Netanyahu and (far-right Police Minister Itamar) Ben-Gvir has made the life of every Arab citizen hell."

He called Israeli voters' support for Arab parties "historic." After counting most of the votes, the Islamic conservative Raam Party and the United List have 19 of 120 seats in parliament. They could tip the scales because neither Netanyahu's camp nor the camp of his rivals led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot have yet achieved a majority.

“We will know how to use our political strength to advance the values ​​we believe in,” said Jabarin. “We are ready to pave the way for the replacement of the government of Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir and (Finance Minister Bezalel) Smotrich – and send them home.”

Around a fifth of Israel's population is Arab. Most are descendants of those Palestinians who remained in the country after the founding of Israel and the 1948 war. As Israeli citizens, they also have the right to vote.

However, their close family and cultural ties to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank cause suspicion among parts of the Jewish population. In Israeli politics there is a kind of “firewall” between right-wing Jewish parties and Arab parties. Some see them as a Palestinian fifth column.