About a week ago, the final results of the Sept. 17 elections began to pour in and the Arab Joint List achievement became known. The Joint List higher-ups were photographed as they held hands and then lifted them up as a sign of victory, to the cheers of their supporters. Joint List Chairman Ayman Odeh and Knesset member Ahmad Tibi (head of the Ta’al faction) claimed that this was a historic achievement not only by virtue of the 13 Knesset seats they received from the public but also due to the fact they had gained enough power to block Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from establishing a right-wing, ultra-Orthodox majority coalition of 61 seats.
When the celebrations died down, the Joint List members began to prepare for the Day After, with the goal of leveraging their power to promote their political agenda. They had prepared a list of demands in advance, and Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper printed it at length under the headline, “Tibi’s outline for an obstructive bloc.” The Joint List’s tactic was to condition a future recommendation of Benny Gantz to be the state’s president, on a Blue and White agreement to fulfill at least part of the demands.
