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Arab-Israelis unhappy with Joint List for rejecting deals with Gulf states

Despite reluctance among Arab-Israeli lawmakers, Israel's Arab public largely supports the normalization deals signed with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Ayman Odeh, head of mainly Arab Joint List electoral alliance, speaks to the media in Israel's northern city of Shefa-Amr during the Israeli legislative election on March 2, 2020. - Israel held its third election in less than a year seeking to break a grinding political deadlock, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chasing re-election while facing criminal indictment. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

“We thought that the idea was long gone, but Arab Knesset members are proving that it is still alive and kicking. They care more about the interests of the Palestinian Authority than the interests of Israel’s Arab population. I think that no Arab in Israel who looks at the situation from a historical perspective and in terms of the impact it will have on their relationship with the Arab world, would still opposes the peace agreement with the United Arab Emirates,” said Uzi Baram, responding to the way that members of the Joint List voted against the normalization agreement with the UAE. Baram was a close confidante of late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Even now, at 83, he is still one of the most admired voices on the left.

While Baram is sympathetic to concerns that the agreement might marginalize efforts to reach peace with the Palestinians, he argues that it could have the opposite effect and propel peace forward. “The agreement is a catalyst, because this new reality doesn’t necessarily sideline peace." Baram says that normalization with the Emirates offers potential for a warm and informal peace.

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