Israeli-Arab lawmakers could bring an end to the Netanyahu era

On Oct. 23, while President Reuven Rivlin was officially tasking Blue and White leader Benny Gantz with forming Israel’s next government, the heads of the Joint List — a unified slate of predominantly Arab parties — were meeting to discuss a unified approach to possible support for such a government. Head of the Joint List Ayman Odeh and Knesset member Ahmad Tibi, respectively the chairs of the Hadash and Ta’al parties, which are the two major parties that form the Joint List alliance, understand their voters want an end to the Netanyahu era and the only option is an alternative government — despite its drawbacks.

They and their constituents have not forgotten that Gantz’s campaign prior to the April elections was launched with a video clip featuring the former head of the Israel Defense Forces alongside a body count of the Palestinians killed under his command in the 2014 war with Gaza. Yet Odeh and Tibi are still willing to support a government with him at the helm if he can send Netanyahu home and end his incessant incitement against Israel’s 21% Arab minority.

“In 1993, there was the Rabin government. For us, relatively speaking, it was the best government, in which we were in the blocking bloc," Odeh said in an Oct. 22 interview with Channel 13 News, referring to the Arab parties’ support that allowed late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to form a minority government and overcome the right-wing political bloc. "If Gantz goes in Rabin's way, I would be honored to follow the path of Tufik Ziad, who was the chairman of the blocking bloc." Rabin was the only Israeli prime minister to date to obtain the backing of the country’s Arab parties.

Tibi, too, held out the option of Joint List support when asked about it in an Oct. 22 interview on Kan News. "Support for the government from outside the coalition — just as it was in the '90s — could be taken into deep consideration by the Joint List" if it means getting rid of Netanyahu, Tibi said.