Arab parties push for unity ahead of Israeli elections
As the Knesset prepares to debate proposed laws that would significantly damage political activity by the Palestinian parties, Arab members weigh their options while debating ways to increase their collective power in parliament.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Knesset voted on Dec. 8 to dissolve itself as a prelude to the elections to be held on March 17, 2015. These elections will pose a major challenge for the Arab parties, as they will have to pass the new election threshold that has been raised from 2% to 3.25% to face a wave of controversial bills that the next Knesset will study, including the Jewish state bill and the pledge of allegiance to the Jewish state bill.
Al-Monitor learned that the Arab parties in Israel have begun consultations and meetings to form a unified list to run in the next Knesset elections.
Haneen Zoabi, a Knesset member from the National Democratic Assembly, told Al-Monitor that the increase of the electoral threshold to 3.25% means that many parties will not be able to pass this threshold alone, which requires that they come together on a joint list for unified Palestinian political representation.
The current Knesset includes 11 Arab members — four members from the United Arab List, four members from the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (a mixed Arab-Israeli party) and three members from the National Democratic Assembly.
