In early November, Arab Knesset member Ayman Odeh, the chairman of the Joint List, received a surprising email from Foreign Policy magazine: He had been selected as one of its 100 Leading Global Thinkers for 2015. Yet, Odeh could not pop the champagne cork right away, as he was asked to keep his selection under wraps until the official announcement was made in early December. Unfamiliar to most of the Israeli public until about a year ago, he suddenly found himself rubbing elbows with Pope Francis, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Sweden’s Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, the negotiators of the Iran nuclear deal and other world leaders and thinkers.
The announcement indicates that Odeh was chosen for the prestigious list thanks to his ability to unite Israel’s Arabs. “Odeh yoked diverse leaders — Islamists, secular feminists, socialists — with a forthright argument that Arabs deserve the same rights as Jewish citizens,” it read.