Unlikely bedfellows: How Arab parties could deliver Israel’s next government

Arab leaders who are struggling for relevance and power amid Israel’s coalition negotiations, say they are putting ideological differences with Zionist parties aside in order to pursue an urgent task: ousting Benjamin Netanyahu.

Reem Hazzan, a member of the National Bureau of the Hadash Party in the Arab Joint List, told The Jewish Independent: “We’re not supposed to ideologically get along with them, we’re supposed to have a very clear target of what we want: to get rid of Netanyahu. On that, we and they meet.”

Hadash rejects Zionism and calls for transforming Israel from a Jewish state to a “state of all its citizens”. Eisenkot, a former chief of staff, insists Israel must simultaneously be both a Jewish and democratic state.

During the campaign, Eisenkot appeared to rule out Arab partners, but he will need to compromise in order to oust Netanyahu. The Islamist Ra’am party is likely to enter the coalition, and the anti-Zionist Joint List will need to provide a safety net to foil no-confidence votes.

“In the eyes of Eisenkot, Israel is in danger and needs to be freed from Netanyahu. There is a price for this and he will pay it,” says Salim Brake, a political scientist at the Open University.

What would the Joint List want in exchange for providing a safety net to Eisenkot? Hazzan identifies tackling organised crime, stopping demolitions and repealing discriminatory planning laws, budget allocations for schools and fighting racism and “some sort of political horizon” on the Palestinian issue.