The current electoral impasse in Israel may be disheartening to some, but there is one group, long an outsider to Israeli politics, to which it also offers an unprecedented opportunity: The Joint List. We of the Citizens Proposal want to extend an invitation to Ayman Odeh and the Joint List to help the party of its choice to form the governing coalition in Israel. Whether it is with Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party or with Benjamin Netanyahu and Likud, the Joint List has a unique opportunity to advance the interests of Arab Israelis by joining the government. Although it would be a challenging circumstance for the Jewish parties that welcome them into their midst, there are even advantages for Israel if the Arab parties can serve in government.
I know there are many good reasons why the Arab parties have stayed out of the government of Israel. The way Israel has been treating their Palestinian brothers and sisters has been disgraceful. Arabs are discriminated against, and Arab MPs are even mocked in the Knesset. It will take much political courage and vision to put aside the narrative of victimhood in favor of constructive engagement for a better future. Yet despite the challenges, I believe that the Joint List should seize this special moment when it has won 13 seats, the most ever for Arab parties. The opportunity may not repeat if there is a third election and Arab voters become discouraged.
The Joint List can certainly partner with Mr. Gantz to create a Center-Left coalition that will have a decent shot at forming a government. It was a good first step that 10 of the 13 representatives from the Joint List recommended Gantz to President Rivlin. Nevertheless, because they refused to join his government, it ended up being only an empty gesture, and Rivlin gave the first mandate to Benjamin Netanyahu and Likud.
However, now, should the Joint List join a prospective Gantz government, the parties on the Center-Left will have 57 seats. Then it will be only a matter of bringing on one of the smaller parties to get over the electoral threshold of 61 seats. Perhaps one of the religious parties like Shas with its 9 seats would come over to Gantz, seeing the prospects of gaining some of its religious objectives. Perhaps Avigdor Lieberman with his 8 seats would find a way to put aside his scruples about sharing governance with Israeli Arabs. There are any number of scenarios where the prospects of political power can cause politicians to put aside their posturing and find the best deal for themselves and their constituents under the circumstances.
The Joint List could also enter the government in a Likud-led coalition. The math is simple: if the 10 Joint List members who were willing to present their mandates to President Rivlin were to turn around and join the right-wing parties, they would give it a comfortable majority of 65 seats. They would enable its coalition to outflank Mr. Gantz and the Center-Left. Moreover, Netanyahu would be spared the unpleasantness of dealing with Lieberman, whom he deeply dislikes. For sure, it would be challenging for the settlers in Likud and Yamina to work with Arabs as coalition partners. Yet I believe that the politicians of both the Joint List and Likud have the political skills for horse trading and deal-making that could accommodate the interests of both the settlers and the Arabs. Although many Arabs would find moving into a right-wing alliance distasteful, its very audacity would make Odeh the actual kingmaker and the Joint List a power to be respected by Israeli politicians of all stripes.
As a player in the government, the Joint List can improve the lot of Arab citizens of Israel in so many ways. Repeal of the Jewish Nationality Law would be at the top of the list in a Gantz government; Israel must be a country that serves all its citizens. In an alliance with either side there are economic benefits: the national budget should increase funds for police and security in Arab towns where even today a wave of murders has led to a general strike; it should fund improved roads and public services in Arab areas, and fund new hospitals and clinics. From its position in the government, the Joint List will be able to improve parity in social services for Arab communities overall.
There are also intangible benefits to all Israeli Arabs from the sight of Arab MKs taking up major ministerial posts. One can make the analogy to the presidency of Barack Hussein Obama that raised the esteem of American Blacks. It will encourage more Israeli Arabs to have ambition to public service. It will encourage more joint business enterprises between Jews and Arabs. When the entire Israeli society sees Arab legislators and ministers dedicated to the nation’s welfare, it will break down their fears and stereotypes of Arabs as a disaffected minority that would turn on Israel at the first opportunity.
Even the Israeli-Palestinian relationship can improve. Certainly, a government that includes the Joint List will put the kibosh on any talk of annexation of the West Bank. Annexation may not figure into the plans of a government under Gantz, but it remains an ever-present danger should there be another Netanyahu government in whatever coalition he may form--except a coalition with the Joint List. Moreover, as a partner in such a government, the Joint List could trade benefits to the settlers with benefits to the Palestinians in the occupied territories such as better roads and loosening of restrictions on economic development.
Beyond that, there is more talk among Palestinians and Israelis alike about a single-state future. What that state will look like—whether it continues to oppress Palestinians or forms an inclusive democratic structure—will be greatly affected by the stance of Israeli Arabs toward the government of Israel. Active involvement of Israeli Arabs in governing Israel will set a precedent for cooperative relations between Israelis and Palestinians in the future, whether in one state or in two states. This may seem like a long shot, but one thing’s for sure: continued hostility and suspicion between the two sides will only prolong and even worsen the oppressive status quo.
In addition to political courage, I believe another element that the Joint List will require is forgiveness. As I Jew, I ask on behalf of Jews everywhere, for forgiveness for the misdeeds that Jews have done to Arabs through history. That’s not to say that there have not also been numerous misdeeds that Arabs have perpetrated on Jews, but from the Jewish side it has been a history of expulsions, from the Nakba in 1948 all the way back to the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael by our matriarch Sarah. I believe that many Jewish Israelis, especially on the Left, want to relate with their Arab brothers and sisters as equal citizens of Israel. Maybe it is not yet a majority, but nevertheless there is a willingness, even a yearning in Israel, to move beyond the sorrows generated by the politics of fear that is often rooted in a misplaced sense of superiority. I know that Arabs still feel the hurt from those expulsions. What I call forgiveness is a willingness to put aside the past in favor of a shared future. It doesn’t mean to forget the past or sweep it under the rug, any more than Jews will ever forget the Holocaust. Still remembering, we can nevertheless move on from that pain and grasp a shared future. I want to see an Israel where Arabs and Jews share the future together. It begins with an Israeli government that includes the Joint List.
