Here’s a question for you: Why hasn’t the Israeli Arab leadership protested the release of Israeli Arab prisoners in the setting of an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority? Do they want the Palestinian Authority to represent their affairs before Israel? The deal that would see the release of Palestinian prisoners as a good-will gesture on the eve of resuming talks and during the talks has been broadly covered, focusing primarily on the justified anguish of those finding it hard to see murderers being freed.

But the debate did not cover extensively the release of Israeli Arabs and did not address the questions as to why Israel agreed to make such a gesture, why the Palestinians demanded it, and why Israeli Arabs seemed to be pleased with it. Equally, it did not address the question why there is not a bold Israeli Arab leadership that would firmly reject this deal, while stating that it is inappropriate for the Palestinian Authority to discuss with Israel the fate of Israeli citizens.

Published this week on Aug. 6, the July 2013 Peace Index of the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) shows surprising optimism among Arab Israelis in relation to the resumption of the talks with the Palestinians: 47% of the respondents told pollsters that an agreement was within reach; 58% of them — a rather staggering number — believe that the government of Israel is sincere in its desire to resume the talks. Yet there isn’t a single Arab Knesset member who would openly come out and say that he believes that the government of Israel is sincere in its desire to hold negotiations.

This isn’t the first time that polls point out the vast gap between what Israeli Arabs think and what their representatives in the Knesset are saying they think. So why do they elect those representatives? That’s a big question. Some clearly don’t vote for them, given that the voting percentage among Israeli Arabs is lower compared to the Jewish population. Some vote for other parties, and, yes — some of them do vote for the nonrepresentational leadership that represents them in the Knesset, and even tell pollsters that by and large they are pleased with them. And that’s a shame and also quite strange, because it doesn’t always add up with the other things they say.