“No one is asking people to join, to get under the stretcher, and not have a say in the direction of the stretcher,” said Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's interim prime minister, on March 15, using a familiar military term for jointly shouldering a load. He was referring to his invitation to opposition leaders to join an emergency unity government, under his leadership, to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Benny Gantz, Amir Peretz and Avigdor Liberman, chairs, respectively of the Blue and White, Labor and Yisrael Beitenu, received invitations, but Knesset member Ayman Odeh and his colleagues from the Arab Joint List were left off the list of invitees compiled by the man who is a lead defendant under criminal indictment for corruption.

Even in the fight against an epidemic that is afflicting all people, regardless of religion, race or nationality, Israel’s Arab citizens are not deemed fit by Netanyahu to carry the nationalist stretcher. They should simply be grateful that Arab doctors and nurses are being allowed to carry the stretchers of Jewish coronavirus patients.

Meanwhile, as Israel's leadership has kept itself busy excluding and inciting against the state’s 21% Arab minority, average citizens have displayed solidarity with their Arab neighbors. Poll results published March 15 showed that a majority of those surveyed (63%) believe Israel should help the Palestinians fend off the COVID-19 epidemic. The survey, conducted by Hebrew University’s Truman Institute for Peace by the Dialogue polling agency among a representative sampling of Jews and Arabs, points to a significant gap between younger Israelis, aged 18-24, and those 65 and older. While 80% of the older cohort supports assisting the neighbors, only 47% of the young display similar generosity.

These young people have clear role models. Even now, Netanyahu and his henchmen, chief among them Culture Minister Miri Regev, continue to fuel the fires of incitement against the politicians representing Arab voters, plus some 20,000 Jewish ones, calling them “terror supporters.” This is how the elected representative accused of bribery, fraud and breach of trust seeks to “stabilize the State of Israel” after having broken all records for cynicism in riding the virus in his attempted flight from prosecution. Right after the March election, he was the one who implored his political rivals to “shed all the cynicism, all the doubts, and join together.” The world champion of political spin promised that an emergency unity government was “not a question of spin.”