Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled on Friday to the Arab town of Umm el-Fahm to personally witness the one-millionth person in Israel to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
By JPOST EDITORIALPRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu announces a peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, during a news conference at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on Thursday.(photo credit: ABIR SULTAN / REUTERS)Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, together with Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, traveled on Friday to the Arab town of Umm el-Fahm to personally witness the one-millionth person in Israel to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.Determining in advance that the millionth person would be in the Arab sector was both a political move in the lead-up to yet another round of elections, and also an act aimed at encouraging more Arab citizens to get the vaccination given the relatively low turnout so far in the community.In this case, it was not only a matter of the best-laid plans going wrong but the best-laid plans not being made. In their haste to make sure the prime minister would be on hand for a photo opportunity for the landmark vaccination, his advisers did not check who the person would be.Only on Sunday, two days after Netanyahu’s photo shoot with 66-year-old Mohammed Jabarin, did Jabarin’s record as an ex-convict who served 20 years for manslaughter come to light.The resulting social media storm – understandable under the circumstances – overshadowed the benefits of the visit.There were more than 100 homicides within the Arab population in 2020. This should concern all citizens. Jabarin is no model citizen and less than a model poster boy for an election campaign.Netanyahu’s photo opportunity in Umm el-Fahm was already being perceived by many as a cynical move. The previous evening, the prime minister had visited the Clalit Health Fund facilities in the Arab town of Tira, also as part of the double campaign to encourage vaccinations and promote his image as world-class leader as he takes the Likud into the fourth election in two years.“We brought millions of vaccines here, more than any other country in the world relative to its population, and we brought them to everyone: Jews and Arabs, religious and secular. Everyone can – and needs to – be vaccinated,” Netanyahu declared in Tira.Netanyahu’s new focus on Arab citizens makes political sense as he looks to attract more voters without harming potential members of a right-wing bloc that he might need to form a future coalition. Looking beyond Netanyahu’s immediate political needs, it also makes sense at a national level.The Arab community makes up about a fifth of the country’s population of just over nine million. The Joint List of Arab parties – a list combining a range from Communists to Islamists – has been perceived of being more involved in the Palestinian issue than the concerns of those citizens they were elected by and are meant to represent.
There have been several incidents in which Arab MKs have voiced support for terrorists or acts of terrorism, and absurdly the Joint List voted against the Abraham Accords that established peaceful relations with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. The prime minister has recently been seen to be enjoying an improved relationship with MK Mansour Abbas – head of the Ra’am Party within the Joint List – who apparently recognizes the need for cooperation and unity in order to help deal with the problems that beset the Arab community.The three parties that make up the Joint List decided to run together to ensure they passed the electoral threshold, which would have been less likely had they run on an individual basis. Arab citizens should of course be represented in the Knesset, but it would be better for Israel as a country if they find a political home within the main parties. Most of the concerns of the Arab voter are the same as the concerns of the Jewish voter and voters everywhere: the economy, health, education, infrastructure and so on.These issues need to be dealt with for all citizens. The coronavirus crisis has demonstrated that what happens in one sector of the population affects all others.The time has come for political parties to offer Arab citizens a genuine, natural home. It is good for democracy and it’s good for the country.It is time to make sure Arab voters feel that they are represented by the non-sectoral parties. The Arab minority wants the same things as the Jewish majority: It wants to feel as if it is a full part of the State of Israel.
