The historic night for the Arab List.

 

A historic moment was about to take place on election night at campaign headquarters, but not at the rallies of Israel’s leading parties. While the Zionist Camp headed by Issac Herzog and Likud with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were on pins and needles in the final hours Tuesday night, up in the northern city of Nazareth in a rented hall the Joint Arab List, a coalition of four parties running on one ticket for the first time, were already celebrating well before polls closed.

An assistant for Ayman Odeh, head of the Arab list, pulled me aside and said with a grin, “we got 14 seats.” It was 8 pm, there were still two hours before precincts shut. Yet, the 14-seat estimate announced on Israeli television meant that the Arab list had met its goal to become the third largest political party in the country. The two-decade Arab boycott of elections was over.

 Joint Arab List head Ayman Odeh speaks with press during an election results 

event in Narareth, Israel, Tuesday, March 17, 2015. (Photo: Allison Deger)

 

 Joint Arab List supporters embrace after election results are announced,

 Nazareth, Israel, Tuesday, March 17, 2015. (Photo: Allison Deger)

A historic win

“This party from now on is the one and only legitimate party representing the Arab people in the Knesset, and is the only legitimate representative of the democratic movements against Zionism,” said Jamal Zahalka, a current Knesset member and an Arab list Knesset-elect, when the first counts were aired on Tuesday night at the rally in Nazareth. At that time early releases showed Herzog and Netanyahu were neck and neck, and the Arab list was earmarked to get 13 seats. Everyone in the room watched from the same set of televisions—journalists, candidates and supporters alike—and Arab list candidates took the stage. There was still some ambiguity over who would be the next prime minister, and if the Arab list would be asked to help form the government.

“We look forward to the future, and our abilities today to defend our rights have become greater. We are stronger and more determined. We can determine our future, we create our own fate. From now on we will not let them manipulate us, and we will not allow them to take advantage of our differences,” announced Zahalka from the stage.

“The vote turnout rate without a doubt is, and above all, the highest percentage since 1999,” said party leader Ayman Odeh, noting the near-record breaking voter turnout amongst Palestinian citizens of Israel, at well over 60-percent, up from 56-percent in the last election.

Hanin Zoabi, head of the Balad faction inside of the party coalition, was visibly absent. She arrived late after all of the ceremonies and speeches concluded. Zoabi had had a rough time in the run up to election day. There was an attempt to have her candidacy stripped by right-wing groups and she was physically attack at one event.

Knesset member Ahmad Tibi and Joint Arab List Knesset-elect Ahmad Tibi

 speaks to press after election results are announced in Nazareth, Israel,

 Tuesday, March 17, 2015. (Photo: Allison Deger)

Knesset member and Joint Arab List Knesset-elect Hanin Zoabi (R) gives an interview

 at a rally in Nazareth, Israel, Tuesday, March 17, 2015. (Photo: Allison Deger)

Arab youth chant national songs at election results event in Narazeth,

 Israel, Tuesday, March 17, 2015. (Photo: Allison Deger)

What’s next for the Arab list? 

How just over a dozen of Palestinian citizens of Israel can influence the government is still an open question. Odeh told supporters his “central focus” will be to “not allow the right parties to assemble the next government.” Avigdor Liberman was mentioned by name by Odeh and nearly every other candidate in the room. Keeping Liberman or Netanyhau out of office, however, is a power the Arab list just does not have. In Israel’s parliament of 120, 14 seats in government is impressive in a historical context where Arab parties individually got two to four seats, but it can’t stop Netanyahu’s clear mandate to form a ruling coalition. He won 30 to Herzog’s 24. That coalition-building process will begin on Sunday, according to a letter sent to party heads by President Reuvin Rivlin yesterday. The president will sit with leaders from each political faction. The party with the most backing will get an official go-ahead to form a government.

Assembling a coalition could take weeks, though. Netanyahu only has 57 of the needed 61 seats in his pocket. But the prime minister is known for brokering political deals that have landed him in office in the past. Netanyahu would never ask support from the Arab parties, and they’d never give it; when it comes to selecting the next prime minister, at this point the Arab list is on the bench.

Still there could be one more game changer. If Netanayhu cannot form a government, which is a slim possibility because the prime minister is shy the votes and there is a divisive political climate, then the torch would pass to Herzog. He would need to seek backing from the Arab list.

“We are not yet in the process of who we will recommend [for prime minister]. We have past experiences, we change, and we have to listen first and then decide,” Odeh said on election night. An assistant for Odeh confirmed on Wednesday that no one from the Zionist Camp has reached out to the Arab list to discuss forming a coalition.

 

Joint Arab List supporter and former Knesset candidate from the Eternal Covenant 

party, Yaron Yemini, celebrates after election results are announced, Nazareth, Israel, 

March 17, 2015. (Photo: Allison Deger)

 

 Joint Arab List leaders Aida Touma-Suliman (L), Ahmad Tibi (C) and Jamal

 Zahalka (R) address media and supporters at an election results event in 

Nazareth, Israel, Tuesday, March 17, 2015. (Photo: Allison Deger)

Last day on the campaign trail 

Before booths closed on election day the number one on the Arab list, Odeh, went back and forth from his native Haifa to villages in the Galilee, home to thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel. Odeh is easily one of the most compelling figures to emerge from this election cycle. He is regarded as an orator and a possible partner to Jewish Israelis. His supporters note his command of both Arabic and Hebrew. His political background is from an Arab-Jewish communist party where Odeh fought for students and lower-income Israelis irrespective of religion.

By nightfall Odeh was at his last stop before heading off to Nazareth for the election results. He ducked into a Haifa campaign office where the threshold is painted with an image of Che Guevara.

“Today from early morning we have been traveling around the Arab villages and cities, advising and encouraging people to vote. On the other side we hear on the media, Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu pitting the Jewish population against the Arab population and encouraging their vote turnout rate,” said Odeh. He was commenting on a video Netanyahu released on social media earlier in the day when early exit polls were showing high voter turnout for Palestinian citizens of Israel.

“Arab voters are heading to the polling station in droves,” said Netanyahu, in the eleventh hour election ad.

“Imagine a prime minister fears his citizens and their voter turnout rate, but I want to tell you he is right to be afraid,” Odeh said, signalling that for Palestinian citizens of Israel, this election was about representation in government and uniting in a bloc. If they can keep their coalition together, and voter turnout rate high, in two decades they could play a huge role in Israeli elections. Because of high birth rates among Palestinian citizens of Israel, in 20 years the Palestinian population is projected to grow by almost half. They could catapult to the second largest party and potentially dominate future ruling coalitions. Indeed, Israeli politics have changed for the long run.

Speeches were made in Arabic and translated to English by Derrar Ghanem. Election results have since been updated: after solider votes were tabulated on Thursday, the latest release shows the Joint Arab List won 13 seats.

19/03/2015 by MONDOWEISS.
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