Election year and the importance of the Arab Israeli vote
The opportunity for Israelis to exercise their democratic right is once again upon them. While Israeli society has shown in the past two years that it succeeds in coming together in the most wonderful ways, at the ballot box the gaps between parts of society have come to the fore again and again in the past years. In this situation, something could break the deadlock: the Arab Israeli vote.
The Joint List is back
It was celebrated earlier in Sakhnin, the return of cooperation between the largest Arab and Arab-majority parties as the Joint List. The last time it entered elections under this banner, it achieved surprising success and became the third party in Israel. Afterwards, it would slowly disintegrate, with one party even failing to cross the threshold in the 2022 elections – that was the Palestinian nationalist party Balad. Now, the combination has returned, due to public pressure. Once again, Hadash – the successor to a few left-wing parties and the Israeli Communist party Maki – the secular nationalist Ta’al, the Islamist Ra’am, and Balad have joined forces.
But the Joint List is a loosely coordinated combination. It does not have one leader, as its different party heads continue to lead their own lists; it does not have a joint program; and Ra’am succeeded in adding a stipulation, that allows it to enter into a governing coalition after the elections on its own. However, that did not stop Likud from firing the first salvo in what promises to be another ruthless election campaign.
A picture was circulated afterwards, showing Ayman Odeh, Ahmad Tibi, Mansour Abbas, and Sami Abou Shehadeh raising each other’s hands in triumph. So, Likud decided to doctor the picture, by adding Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid. Well, Likud apparently has forgotten that Netanyahu was eager to have Mansour Abbas’ Ra’am join his potential coalition, after the 2021 elections. That attempt was rejected by the far-right parties he needed to form a majority – Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit – which thus led to Yair Lapid succeeding in forming a coalition with Yamina, Blue and White, Labor, Meretz, Yisrael Beitenu, and Ra’am. How short the memory of all politicians always is.
Yet, the Joint List has virtually excluded itself from any future government, by including Balad. The latter failed to cross the electoral threshold on its own in 2022 and polls show that it would fail to do so again. In fact, Balad needs the Joint List more, than the other way around. Ra’am, the party which has significant backing among Negev Bedouin, can jump ship, as soon as the opportunity presents itself. And recent history explains this demand.
Meet the Israeli Islamists
Ra’am is an Islamist party, it has been one since its inception. While it should not be confused with the anti-Israel activist Sheikh Raed Salah’s Northern Islamic Movement, it does represent a brand of political Islam. And yet, under Mansour Abbas’ tutelage, it has slowly but surely been transforming itself. In a recent piece, Tal Schneider referred to them as Muslim conservatives. That label seems to become more and more applicable.
If we go back to 2021, that was the symbolic start of a transition. In both Hebrew and Arab media, Abbas stated that Israel was a Jewish state, period. It conveyed a pragmatic stance. While Abbas was not going to call himself a Zionist, he accepted the country’s character and argued that it was important to start working for the interests of Arab Israelis within that framework, instead of trying to challenge it. It led to fiery responses from Odeh and Abou Shehadeh. But it was the start of Abbas’ campaign to present Ra’am as different from the rest. And, more importantly, it sent a clear message to other political parties in the Knesset: Ra’am was interested in a seat at the table, instead of just waging opposition.
There were other messages, such as during the 2021 riots, when Abbas went to Lod to meet with mayor Yair Revivo, which caused a backlash. But Abbas wanted to show his determination to reach out and he condemned violence against Jews and Jewish property. It was a bold move. And, finally, Ra’am would enter the “change” government.
Still available
While the “change” government fell prematurely, Ra’am has recently increased its desire to enter another government, through new measures. Thus, Abbas insisted on adding the stipulation that would allow him to leave the Joint List, if an opportunity would present itself. He decided to sever Ra’am from its Shura Council, thus providing him with more freedom to pursue his ambitions. And, he even stated that the party would be open to Jewish members, expressing the hope to find someone like Yesh Atid’s Yoav Segalovitz, who developed a plan to counter Arab organized crime that was starting to bear fruit. But, apart from Yair Golan, none of the other parties have openly expressed a willingness to sit in a coalition with Ra’am.
The importance of Arab Israeli interests
Ra’am entered the coalition, because it wanted to be the voice of Arab Israeli voters and use its influence to address important issues within Arab Israeli society: organized crime, violence, housing issues, and economic opportunity. Thus, with all of the decisions made by Abbas, Ra’am continues to signal willingness to join the next government.
The fact that Ra’am would like to join another coalition after the elections does not mean that it should get a free pass, obviously. It should be scrutinized, asked tough questions, just as any other party. But the fact that almost all parties have refused to state that they would be at least willing to negotiate with them, is odd. Simply because they are Muslim conservatives? Well, far-right politicians are in power and we have seen a slew of outrageous statements from people like Itamar Ben Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, Limor Son-Har Melech, Zvi Sukkot, and Amichai Eliyahu in the last two years. Moreover, we were treated to their little scavenger hunt, as Sukkot and Eliyahu, accompanied by Likud’s Tally Gotliv, entered the Sde Teiman military base in 2024, not really knowing what to do when they had succeeded to enter. Imagine that Ra’am would have done that.
Arab Israeli concerns are important. This year, more Arab Israelis have died due to gun violence, reaching an average of almost one person per day. Last year, a record was shattered, as 251 were killed. There are casualties as a result of quarrels within Arab organized crime or feuds between families. But on many occasions innocent civilians are caught in the crossfire, either the victims of organized crime – people refusing to submit to protection rackets, for example – or innocent bystanders.
This did not happen overnight, by the way. In her book The Israelis, journalist Donna Rosenthal devoted several chapters to the diversity of Israeli society. Published in 2008, her chapter on Bedouin Israelis described the increasing violence in the South, as a consequence of the drug trade. She spoke with Bedouin who described their personal safety diminishing as a consequence. In 2016, Times of Israel devoted an article to gun violence in Arab society, with residents in Umm al-Fahm sharing that they could hear gunfire throughout the day. Now, in 2026 it has only gotten worse.
For much of this period, Netanyahu has been the leader of different governments. This has happened on his watch. Yet, recently, we had to watch him flanked by Ben Gvir and Minister of Defense Israel Katz, as he boldly proclaimed that Israel was “taking the Negev back,” after Bedouin from Tarabin had torched cars in a nearby Jewish community. There certainly has been crime and Israeli Jews have suffered from it as well. But, did I miss something? When was the Negev not part of Israel in the past decades? Who captured it from the state? Or would it be better to argue that successive governments have largely left the South to its own devices, with politicians mostly appearing during election campaigns? The latter is what I would argue, as complaints about gun violence, organized crime, and the drug trade have affected both Arab and Jewish communities in the Negev for many years. So, Abu Yair, where were you, exactly?
Abu Yair and the landlord
In 2022, Netanyahu went to Tarabin and sat with the sheikh, as he poured him a cup of coffee. The attempt to woo Tarabin worked, as Ra’am was the biggest party in the town, but Abu Yair followed with nearly 40 percent of the vote. In 2026, Abu Yair decided to return, but the optics of him accompanied by Ben Gvir and Katz, together with a large number of police and IDF officers gave the impression of him touring a counter-terrorism operation on the Gaza or Syrian border – but he was walking in Israel. The issue of the prime minister standing on the outskirts of Tarabin, reminded me of Naftali Bennett responding to a spike in violence in the Bedouin city of Rahat in 2021, as he too stood on a vantage point looking at the city from afar. Why not enter the city? These are your citizens. I need not explain that this caused quite some frustration in Rahat, especially expressed by its mayor.
Next to Abu Yair, the dramatic increase in violent deaths in Arab society in 2025 happened on Ben Gvir’s watch. Instead of truly combating the crime wave, Ben Gvir walks around Arab Israeli cities and towns, smiling as he observes the enforcement of the Kaminitz Law. He refers to himself as the landlord, making sure that Arab Israelis know who is boss. But as Ben Gvir lays down the law and then uploads it to TikTok, Arab Israelis continue to suffer; Jewish Israelis are affected as well; and recently, Beer Sheva shopkeepers complained of a rise in burglar attacks, the courtesy of Bedouin crime syndicates in the Negev. This is the “success” of Ben Gvir’s zero tolerance policy for crime.
Why should Arab Israelis vote for Arab parties?
A party such as Ra’am can articulate the needs of Arab Israelis – and Negev Bedouin in particular – and considering its shift in recent years, it is odd that other parties are fearful to express the desire to even discuss options with them. Moreover, the interests of Arab Israelis are important, each Israeli should feel safe in his or her community. Finally, Arab Israeli society’s participation in elections is rather low, as roughly 40 percent of eligible voters remained home in 2022. The majority of votes, roughly 400,000, were spread across the Joint List parties. In other words, this is a vast pool of voters that could vote for someone else.
Here is an interesting statistic: in the last elections of the 1990s, more than half of Arab Israelis voted for Zionist parties. This was referenced in an INSS article on voting patterns in the 2022 elections. In the last elections, as mentioned before, Netanyahu managed to garner the votes of almost 40 percent of Tarabin. It shows one thing: there is nothing preventing Arab Israelis from voting for Zionist parties again, if they believe that their demands will be taken seriously. Yoav Segalovitz is well respected; and Shas’ Moshe Arbel – arguably the most competent minister this government has produced, until he resigned due to Shas’ row with the coalition – worked for Israel’s minorities as well, as he pushed to aid Druze and Circassian communities and was committed to combating issues in Nazareth, which suffers from poor infrastructure, to name one issue.
The issues plaguing Arab Israeli society are an Israeli interest, first and foremost. So, if you do not want to govern with an Arab party, not even Ra’am, then why not entice Arab voters to vote for you? Right-wing parties claim to fight for national security. Well, this is a national security issue, so why not explain how you will improve the personal safety of Arab Israelis, which will benefit all of Israel in the end? As for the liberals, are you telling me that all Arab Israelis would want to vote for Ra’am? Are there no Arab Israeli liberals who would be interested in voting for you? Just a few months ago, Lucy Aharish hosted two Arab Israeli women, liberal, who complained of not getting an opportunity in Arab Israeli politics, due to conservatism. So, here is one opportunity already. I think they could be a good fit for Yair Golan’s Democrats or Yesh Atid. But right-wing parties could include Arab members as well. The most pressing issue right now is restoring security to communities. Are not right-wing parties always claiming that they will be on tough on crime? Again, an opportunity.
Countering anti-Arab sentiments
Guess what Amichai Eliyahu said about the spiraling crime wave that plagues Arab Israeli communities? It was a matter of culture, according to him. So, when the Israeli police cracked down on Jewish organized crime in the 1990s, was that a cultural matter? In fact, experts have pointed out that this successful campaign created a vacuum that Arab organized crime stepped into. And was the New York mafia an example of Italian culture, despite the fact that Rudy Giuliani successfully cracked down on them? And is the proliferation of drug labs in the Netherlands a cultural thing, too? And does that explain why this year, in the territories governed by the Palestinian Authority, only 5 people were murdered? When Eliyahu says this it is a poor argument, but it conveys one message: he does not care.
Recently, Arab Israelis started taking to the streets, calling for action against the crime wave. They have done this in past years, but usually in Arab communities. This time, something has changed: people traveled to Tel Aviv, thousands of them; they were joined by Jews; they brought placards, bearing messages in Hebrew and Arabic, and pictures of loved ones.
On October 7, 2023, Yahya Sinwar dreamed of Israel going up in flames. He called on Arab Israelis to rise up against the state – it did not happen. Civil society came together, Israelis supported each other, and gaps and divisions in society seemed to be narrowing. But, after two years, causes for concern are emerging.
In 2025, a clip emerged showing Arab employees of a Cinema City in Jerusalem being pelted with food, as you see Jewish teens smiling and shouting “death to the Arabs”; a pregnant Arab woman in Yafo is spat on; a young Arab man from Umm al-Fahm is assaulted in the streets of Yafo, simply for speaking Arabic; a group of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attacks an Arab man and his son, while both are sitting in their car in Yafo. Even though this small group was not representative of tens of thousands of Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters, it was unacceptable to see them “celebrate” a victory over Hapoel Tel Aviv in such a way.
To be fair, these are horrible incidents that do not reflect the behavior of the overwhelming majority of Israelis. But it must be countered. Political parties have a part to play here, but when Benny Gantz’s Blue and White releases a campaign ad that dabbles in fearmongering – by warning that Ra’am might endanger national security – then that does not help. Just one reminder: it was not Ra’am that torpedoed the “change” government; Bennett’s Yamina turned out to be the weakest link.
An opportunity that should not be missed
In the coming elections, the Arab Israeli vote is of major importance. This means not excluding Ra’am before the ballots have been cast; it means that other parties, right-wing and left-wing, need to take a serious interest in Arab Israeli voters, showing that they have other options besides Arab parties alone; it is an opportunity to narrow the gap and counter alienation.
The state must assert authority and work to restore personal security for all Israeli citizens, especially its children, such as Razan Abbas, killed by stray gunfire in 2022; Omran Muhammad Hujayrat, killed by stray gunfire in 2022; Mohammed Abu Huwash, shot and killed in 2023; Azmi Gharib, shot and killed in 2026. These are just a few examples.
In addition, the government must work to address needs and improve the wellbeing of Arab Israeli communities, by increasing investment in them – instead of diverting funds – through such examples as infrastructure, education, and economic opportunity. Moreover, the lack of shelters was exhibited in the past two years, as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian theocracy repeatedly targeted Arab Israeli towns and villages with missiles. Therefore, the availability of public shelters must be upgraded and expanded. It will strengthen Jewish-Arab partnership. And that, after all, is an Israeli interest.
