Joint List MK: Donald Trump is motivating Arabs to vote
"After a decade in office, and in light of corruption charges, we hope that the elections tomorrow will finally put an end to the Netanyahu era."
By GIL HOFFMANAn Israeli-Arab father casts a ballot together with his children, as Israelis vote in a parliamentary election, at a polling station in Umm al-Fahm, Israel April 9, 2019(photo credit: AMMAR AWAD / REUTERS)
Joint List MKs said Sunday that if enough Arabs vote in Monday’s election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be prevented from forming the next government.In the September election, the Arab turnout was 59.2%, which resulted in 13 seats. Joint List MK Ahmad Tibi said he believed he could up that to 64%, which could be enough for 14 or perhaps even 15 if Jewish turnout goes down.MK Yousef Jabareen said polls, corroborated by what his party’s MKs were seeing on the ground, indicate that the Joint List is on track to achieving 16 seats“From our perspective, the election is going to make history,” Jabareen said. “After a decade in office, and in light of corruption charges, we hope that the elections tomorrow will finally put an end to the Netanyahu era. His years in office have been characterized by endless incitement against Arab citizens, further entrenchment of the occupation and the continued building of settlements.He said US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan and its plan for making Arabs in the triangle area of northern Israel part of a Palestinian state provided extra motivation for Arabs to vote.“If, in fact, the Joint List wins 16 seats, the right-wing will lack the 61 seats they require to form a government,” Jabareen said. “Hundreds of thousands of Arab and Jewish citizens, supporters of democracy, can bring about this historic – and realistic – change.”
