The big winner in Israel's elections is the Joint List
Members of all four parties – secular, nationalist and religious – took to the streets, held rallies and brought people to the polling stations.
By JPOST EDITORIALAYMAN ODEH, leader of the Joint List, gestures as he hands out pamphlets during an an election campaign event in Tira.(photo credit: REUTERS)
While it is still unclear who will form the next government, or if we are heading to a fourth election, it seems like the big winner of this round is Israel’s third-biggest party – the Joint List.In April, the four parties comprising the list ran in two lists, Ra’am-Balad and Hadash-Ta’al, and received 10 seats together. In September, they ran as one list and regained their power from the 2015 election, garnering 13 seats.This time they spiked to 15 – an unprecedented number for an Arab party.This was the result of an all-out campaign intended to break the popular ban on participating in the general election and to locate people who usually do not vote and get them out to do so.Members of all four parties – secular, nationalist and religious – took to the streets, held rallies and brought people to the polling stations.They also focused, for the first time, on getting Jewish voters. Party leader Ayman Odeh and senior member Ahmad Tibi attended rallies and meetings with voters in Tel Aviv.However, it seems one of the main reasons the Joint List campaign worked so effectively was the attention it received from Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party.The main slogan the Likud chose for this campaign was “Gantz could not form a government without the support of Ahmad Tibi.” Photos of Benny Gantz and Tibi appeared on billboards all across the country. In an interview with Gil Hoffman and Udi Shaham of The Jerusalem Post, Tibi said Netanyahu mentioned him around 17 times each campaign rally.Both Likud and the Joint List shared videos on social media showing Netanyahu warning of the option of a coalition supported by the latter. In the videos, Netanyahu dubs this notion as an “existential threat” to the country.It is also worth revisiting how we got into the situation in which all four Arab parties are running on one list. In 2014, the Knesset raised the electoral threshold from 2% to 3.25%. Back then, the move was perceived as an attempt by the Right to keep some of the small Arab parties out of the Knesset.
But it came back like a boomerang. Slamming and hitting the Arab parties did not benefit Netanyahu and the Right. It benefited the Arab parties, and they became bigger and stronger.On Wednesday, in a meeting at the Knesset with the right-wing bloc, Netanyahu told the participants the Left did not receive 62 seats in the election, only 47. He said the Joint List should not be counted as part of the left-wing bloc – and essentially should not be counted at all – because they are not Zionists.This is wrong. They should be counted, and their voice should be heard. Rejecting the Arab parties does not work.The declaration of independence says: “We appeal… to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.”Arabs should be seen as equal citizens and be treated as equal citizens. For too long - and definitely over the past 15 months of political mudslinging - Israeli-Arabs have been demonized and portrayed as a fifth column and as if they are not equal citizens in this country.This is not only wrong but also goes against the trend that is currently coming out of the Arab sector in Israel.Last August, for example, Odeh declared his party was ready to take part in the leadership of the country to advance its Arab citizens.That was a historic declaration. And he delivered his promise when the party recommended to the president to give Gantz the mandate to form a coalition.This is time to rethink the approach to the Arab citizens of Israel. Joining hands in combating violence, poverty and in advancing welfare in their community is a shared interest for all of us, Jews and Arabs, and it can be done without undermining the character of the country.It is time to bring about that change.
