“The only option is a left-wing government with us”: in Israel, Arab citizens hope to be represented in the next government

Gadi Eisenkot was chosen by President Isaac Herzog to try to form a coalition and lead the country. Zionist parties will not be enough and he may have to compromise with Israeli Palestinians, who won a record 19 seats and promised to support him. But at what cost? The negotiations are getting tough. For the Arab minority, which represents more than 20% of the population of the Jewish state, it was time, after four years of discrimination under a government dominated by the far right, to make their voice heard at the polls.

On October 12, just two weeks before the elections, the Israeli authorities razed the Bedouin village of Al-Dahiya, considered illegal. “We never imagined that they would destroy all the houses and leave a field of ruins,” says a resident. “But we quickly understood that this decision had been taken by the far-right ministers, Smotrich and Ben Gvir, to seduce their electorate.”

In a few hours, 400 residents, including Ahmad and his daughter Aden, were thrown onto the streets. For four years, the most right-wing government in Israel's history has been carrying out expulsions that only target the Arab population. And it is to put an end to this violent and discriminatory policy that the 250 inhabitants of the village of voting age have all mobilized. “It was important. They destroyed our homes. So it was essential to go to the polls to change the government,” explains a resident.

“We hope that the Israelis will change the way they see us and that we can finally be integrated into society.”

Wishful thinking for activist Huda Abu Obaid, who hopes that the Zionist opposition led by Gadi Eisenkot will grasp the outstretched hand. "We will see what will happen, if we are really going to have a government with them, Jews and Arabs, or if the Jews are going to do everything possible not to let the Arabs participate in this government. If the Israelis want to preserve their democracy, they cannot do it alone because the extreme right is dragging them towards fascism. The only option is a left-wing government with the Arabs," she believes.

Because today, the young woman considers that Israel “is a democratic state,” she says, “only for Jews” and not for Palestinians of Israeli nationality like her.