Arab coalition leader sees historic chance for Israeli policy shift

Record voter turnout among Arab Israelis – Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, comprising 20% of the population – significantly reshaped the political landscape, exceeding 80%. Residents of the occupied West Bank and Gaza were not eligible to vote.

Jabareen emphasized that the primary demand of the approximately 840,000 Palestinian Israeli voters is to remove the Netanyahu government, particularly its most extreme members, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. He cited a series of grievances over the past four years, including demolitions of homes, inadequate police intervention in Arab community crime, insufficient resource allocation for municipalities and education, and pervasive racism.

“This has been really a very dangerous period,” Jabareen said.

The next few days are expected to be crucial, with President Isaac Herzog set to begin consultations with political leaders to determine who will be tasked with forming the next government.

Netanyahu’s coalition has lost its majority, shrinking from 68 to 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. The Change bloc holds 48 seats, positioning Arab-Israeli parties, collectively holding 19 seats, as potential kingmakers. The Joint List commands 11 seats, while the Islamist Ra’am holds eight.

While Eisenkot has ruled out a unity government with Netanyahu, he has stipulated conditions for any coalition involving Arab parties: recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, acceptance of mandatory military service, and denunciation of Hamas as a terrorist organization. Ra’am’s leader, Mansour Abbas, has indicated a willingness to join an Eisenkot coalition, while Jabareen stated the Joint List would offer external support through tactical voting.

“As long as the occupation of our people in the West Bank continues, we cannot be part of a government,” Jabareen explained. He added, “However, in order to use our political power to get rid of the extreme Netanyahu government, we said that we will consider the possibility of supporting from outside.”

Jabareen, 54, a former law professor, highlighted the need for addressing systemic discrimination and establishing a “political horizon” including a cessation of hostilities and renewed negotiations with Palestinian leadership.

He also voiced concerns about Netanyahu’s potential actions to maintain power, dismissing allegations of illegal Qatari funding for the Joint List campaign as a tactic to delegitimize Arab political participation. Jabareen warned against Netanyahu potentially initiating a war with Iran to delay political transition.

“This is really a critical period,” he stated.