RAMALLAH: Over 1.8 million Palestinian citizens of Israel have expressed deep anguish and frustration over their four parties’ poor performance in the elections held on Nov. 1.
While the leaders blamed citizens for not voting, the latter blamed the former, who preferred to go to the polls divided after rejecting calls to unite their ranks.
Results showed that the role of Arab MPs in the next Israeli parliament would be insignificant.
Political analyst Faleh Habib from the Israeli region of Taibeh told Arab News that the results have disappointed both Arab party leaders and the Arab community in Israel, who wanted to keep Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu out of power but whose fragmentation and lack of unity in the election led to his return.
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“The Arab parties will be a weak, crumbling opposition in the Knesset (Israeli parliament), making it easier for Netanyahu to implement his program and plans without obstruction,” Habib told Arab News, adding that all the Arab parties have lost their influence as Netanyahu will not need their confidence votes to form his government.
Arab leaders are trading accusations, with some blaming the Joint List (Tajamu), headed by Sami Abu Shehadeh, which they hold responsible for the loss of 130,000 votes, a significant number that paved the way for Netanyahu to form a stable coalition.
Although Tajamu did not reach the electoral threshold, Habib said that if they had stayed with the Al-Jabha party, they could have strengthened Arab representation in the Knesset.
The United List, headed by Mansour Abbas, won five seats.
The Islamic Movement, headed by Raed Salah and Kamal Khatib, had called on Palestinian citizens of Israel not to participate in the elections for religious reasons, which helped reduce the voting percentage among Palestinians to 55-58. In contrast, the voting rate in Israeli society reached 71.3 percent.
Jordan had urged the leaders of the Islamic Movement to retract the edict, fearing that it would help Netanyahu’s return.
Two months ago, Maj. Gen. Majed Faraj, head of the intelligence services of the Palestinian Authority, hosted a meeting of Arab party leaders in Ramallah to unify them, but his efforts failed.
Jalal Bana, a political analyst from the Israeli city of Acre, told Arab News that the failure of Arab party leaders would negatively affect their political future as the frustration of Arab voters would lead to a significant drop in voter turnout in any upcoming elections.
When the Arabs hoped for an authentic representation in the Knesset, they voted broadly for the Joint List, which enabled them to obtain 15 seats in 2029, Bana said.
“In these elections, the Arab parties did not present a project, vision or a clear program; rather, they resorted to intimidating voters about Netanyahu’s return, and this is a failed strategy,” Bana added.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces have killed at least four Palestinians in separate incidents on Thursday, including one who had stabbed a police officer in East Jerusalem and three others in Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank.
Also on Thursday, Israel said it was removing checkpoints in and out of the city of Nablus. Israel had imposed restrictions weeks ago, clamping down on the city in response to a new militant group known as the Lions’ Den. The military has conducted repeated operations in the city in recent weeks, killing or arresting the group’s top commanders.
Economists say that the sudden and prolonged siege of Nablus has resulted in losses amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, accompanied by a delegation of foreign ambassadors, toured Nablus on Thursday to determine the impact of the Israeli siege.
