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On the Deck of the Titanic? The Rise and Fall of the Joint List of Arab parties in Israel
Abstract
"On the Deck of the Titanic", thus sailed the recently founded Joint List of Arab parties on the eve of the 2015 parliamentary elections in Israel, according to a leading journalist from Northern Israel, belonging to a nearly two million strong minority of Palestinian Arabs who are also Israeli citizens. His concern was shared by many, but this prophecy was refuted, with the Joint List gaining 13 out of 120 seats in the Knesset (Israeli parliament). However, internal disputes led to the disintegration of the Joint List on the eve of the 2019 elections, leading in turn to a decline in Arab parliamentary representation. Luckily for the Arab parties, the recurring rounds of elections in the last two years enabled the re-unification of the Joint List, with its representation hitting a record of 15 seats, but only temporary. With the secession of the Islamic movement from the Joint List, and its separate campaign for the forthcoming March 2021 elections, Arab representation may be decimated from 15 seats to 9, or even 8. What may seem even more devastating for Arab politics in Israel, is the shattering of a dream to become a role model of unity and leadership to Palestinians elsewhere, perhaps even in the Middle East in general. Even more painful, for many Arab leaders and pundits, is that the schism in the Joint List was orchestrated by none other than Prime Minister Netanyahu, facing criminal indictments and struggling for survival, who was able through political cunning to drive a wedge between the Islamic Movement (southern branch) and the other parties comprising the Joint List. Unsatisfied with this political victory, assumingly making the Islamic Movement his ally, Netanyahu now runs his own campaign among Israel's Arab minority, hoping to gain 1-2 seats directly from Arab voters, who were considered until recently his sworn political rivals. These repercussions come amidst a wave of internal violence on criminal grounds in Arab localities, suffering from decades of neglect and discrimination in government funds, and now also alleged police neglect of anti-criminal activities, and the growing Covid-19 pandemic crisis. This leads to a growing concern among Arab politicians in Israel: Can the 2015 apocalyptic prophecy fulfill itself in 2021? This paper will analyze the recent repercussions and upheavals in the Arab political scene in Israel, in a historical context from 1948 to the present, in order to answer this question.
Discipline
Political Science
Geographic Area
Israel
Sub Area
Current Events