Why I Still Vote for an Arab Party

Seven years ago, and six elections ago, I published here an article explaining why I casted my vote for an Arab party. This will also be my choice on this Tuesday’s elections. During these seven years my arguments have not changed but only intensified. I am still not voting for a party that I consider perfect or even close to that title. I am still choosing the lesser of two evils. Some may attribute this to my being too picky; others would suggest that I am not rooted deeply enough in the country and that therefore I find it difficult to identify with Zionist parties. Both criticisms are probably correct, at least to a certain extent. However, there is nothing inherently wrong with being epicure in politics like there is nothing wrong with being foodie in eating. It is also not a secret that I reside in the Holy Land not out of Zionism but because of business needs and health concerns. I am an Israeli citizen by law – not by grace. I do not owe anything for having this citizenship.

However, sympathy to the Palestinian cause was not the major reason for voting for an Arab party in 2019. It is not the major reason now either. I am choosing candidates who were and probably will be less harmful to me than others (lesser of two evils – remember?).Like many people, I believe that Netanyahu has to go since there is a limit to the number of criminal cases, the number of terms in office, and the number of hate incitement speeches we can suffer. I wrote this sentence – word by word – in 2019. You are invited to check and verify. What has changed since then? Obviously, a war; actually, three or even four wars – depends on how you count fronts, rounds, and enemies, however, no matter how you count – the number remains too high.

While Netanyahu’s block is out of the question, I could still theoretically consider voting for one of the center-left Zionist parties, but besides the fact being a non Zionist makes it very difficulty to identify with a Zionist agenda all of these parties bear a crucial lacuna, namely addiction to economic populism, that digs deeply into my pocket. Using euphemistic jargon like “investment in education”, “encouraging ultra-Orthodox men to go out to work”, “closing economic gaps”, or “helping young families with housing” what nearly all the Zionist politicians from right to left actually suggest is that single males with money will subsidize all the rest. Why should I subsidize schooling for large families? Why should my private fortune be used to cover the absorption of Ethiopian Jews? Why need I cover the enormous defense expenses of irrational settlers who insist on living in Hebron when there is enough space in Kiryat-Gat? Why should I cover fertility treatments, when I have no wish to become a parent?

All the Jewish parties share the same spirit of economic populism: They promise welfare and ignore the cost of Dolce Vita. This was true in 2019 and unfortunately remains accurate today. Arab parties may also have a similar vision, but unlike the Jewish parties they lack the power to implement it. I vote for them not out of sentiment but because we share similar interests: dismantling the welfare state and putting an end to the occupation of the West Bank and the never ending war in Gaza. These wishes are unlikely to become true anytime soon, but even a small step toward their fulfillment is a step in the right direction.