One controversial issue alone has so far prevented the declaration of the establishment of a joint Arab list ahead of the March 17 elections for the 20th Knesset. There is still disagreement on who will be named 12th on the merged list — a place that is considered feasible, provided all the Arab parties really run on a joint ticket.

Knesset member Ahmad Tibi demands that the place be kept for his party, Ta'al, while Hadash insists on having the place reserved for its representative. Al-Monitor got hold of the list drafted by the leaders of the Arab parties on which they have agreed, with the exception, as aforesaid, of the still disputed 12th place.

New Hadash Chairman Ayman Odeh, elected to office Jan. 17 after the forced resignation of Knesset member Mohammad Barakeh, is projected to lead the list. Next on the list is Masud Ghnaim from the Islamic Movement, and he is followed by Balad Knesset member Jamal Zahalka, in the third place. According to polls conducted within the Arab sector, the preferred candidate to lead the list among the Arab voters, primarily among the youth, is Tibi. But Tibi has been assigned only the fourth place on the joint list.

Two slots of the top 10 have been reserved for women — one for Hadash member and founder of the Arab feminist and social change organization, Women Against Violence, Aida Touma-Suliman. Another one, the seventh place, has been assigned to controversial Balad Knesset member Haneen Zoabi. Dov Khenin of Hadash comes eighth on the list, and the 11th place has been reserved for Hadash member Yousef Jabareen, a professor of law at the University of Haifa.