Majority of Arab-Israelis support forming an Arab-Jewish party
Arab-Israelis are split on supporting the Joint List, with 51.6% of respondents saying the party is performing well.
By TZVI JOFFREArab leaders stand in front of a sign that reads "We want to live without violence and crime"(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Over 64% of Arab-Israelis support forming an Arab-Jewish party for the next Knesset elections, although the voter participation rate among Arab-Israelis is not expected to be high at just 55.6%, according to a new study by the Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University.Arab-Israelis are also split on supporting the Joint List, with 51.6% of respondents saying the party is performing well, while 45.4% said the party wasn’t.The main arguments of respondents in favor of an Arab-Jewish party were a fundamental belief in a joint Arab and Jewish political struggle and the hope that such a party would help increase the impact of Arab-Israelis in politics.While 71.6% of respondents said that they did intend to vote, the Dayan Center compared this to the weighting of actual voter participation in the past elections for the 23rd Knesset which was only 64.8% and estimated that voter participation will stand at only 55.6%.Despite objections by the Joint List, most (61.8%) of the Arab community supports the normalization agreements with the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan, with only 35.5% opposing the agreements.Almost three-fourths (73.9%) of Arab-Israelis are in favor of the results of the US presidential election, with a quarter feeling that the involvement of the US in the Middle East will now likely reinforce stability in the region.The economic situation of most (61.6%) of the Arab-Israeli community has worsened in the past year due to the coronavirus crisis.The most important issues for Arab-Israelis are the fight against crime and violence (51.9%), dealing with the economic situation (13.4%), planning and building in Arab localities (13.3%), reducing coronavirus infection rates in Arab communities (6.2%) and integration of Arab-Israeli youth into the workforce and higher education (5.4%).Over half of the Arab community feel that the anti-Netanyahu protest movements this past summer did not represent Arab citizens, although over 75% feel that Arab citizens should support these movements.While most of the respondents expressed opposition to recognizing the rights of LGBTQ+ people, some 34.1% expressed support for recognizing their rights. Arik Rudnitzky, project manager of the Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation at the Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, stated that this amount of support shows a growing openness among Arab-Israeli society.
