Last Week’s Polls Showed Just How Much the Formation of a Joint List of the Arab Parties Could, Paradoxically, Pose a Real Threat to the Chances of Replacing Benjamin Netanyahu’s Government. The prime minister was euphoric over those polls, and understandably so from his perspective. The Change bloc moved further away from 61 seats. In Channel 13 News’ poll, the Netanyahu bloc even overtook the other bloc.
Two people in the camp opposing Netanyahu could change this frightening picture. The first is Yair Golan. Polls among Arab citizens have shown an unprecedented desire to integrate into the political arena, with representatives who would be part of the coalition and help stop the epidemic of crime in Arab society. Unfortunately, Gadi Eisenkot and Yair Lapid are not part of the effort to embrace this desire, but why isn’t the chairman of The Democrats investing more energy and resources in bringing such voters into his camp?
Golan speaks openly about Mansour Abbas as a coalition partner, but so far he has not promoted any Arab representative for the list that will be chosen in the primaries. In private conversations, he says he is working on it, but given the enormous potential, there is no reason The Democrats shouldn’t have even two representatives from Arab society. Even now, they receive roughly two-thirds of a seat from Arab voters. If they manage to rise to two or three seats among Arab voters, it could change the election results.
Golan is making an effort to distance himself from the “left” label. It is easier to climb a smooth wall. The Labor Party’s experience with Arab representatives has not been an easy one. Zuhair Bahloul and Ibtisam Mara’ana were highly legitimate representatives, and yet every past statement of theirs, every half-sentence, was turned into a “storm,” sometimes even within Labor itself. In this respect, Golan is more resistant to the X-ray examination the right conducts of every Arab candidate. Arab representation could also help Golan resolve his entanglement with Meretz.
On the one hand, Golan cannot simply violate his agreement with Meretz. For a leader on this side of the political map, that is simply not done. On the other hand, threats by “sources in Meretz” that they will run independently are not particularly credible. Both sides understand that the smart way forward is to reach a new agreement, which may reduce Meretz’s representation on the list. That reduction can easily be explained if it comes in exchange for reserving a slot for an Arab candidate.
The second person who can restore the polling picture to where it was before is Abbas. Abbas, as we know, is not interested in a Joint List because it reduces the chances of replacing Netanyahu, but he knows it will be very difficult to act against the wishes of the Arab public, and such a list significantly increases turnout among Arab voters. Abbas cannot bring down such a list over personal issues. Demanding an excessive number of reserved slots on the list is precisely the kind of thing that would distance Arab citizens from their representatives.
On the other hand, an ideological demand is a different matter. Abbas could demand that the Joint List not come together merely on a technical basis, as he has said until now, but instead be built around a shared overarching principle. That principle could be a return to the formula that previously made him attractive in the eyes of Netanyahu and his supporters: focusing on domestic issues and civil society rather than diplomatic and security matters. That would be a win-win demand.
For Balad and Hadash, this would be a bitter pill to swallow, perhaps an impossible one. If they nevertheless accept it, the Joint List would be more legitimate in the eyes of Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman. The Joint List’s election campaign would look accordingly: land, integration, crime. Not Gaza and Ramallah. If they refuse, the Arab public will also accept the fact that Abbas is running separately.