Arab society urgently needs a true and strong joint list, preferably Jewish-Arab.

By: Tamim Abu Khait

Yesterday, a meeting was held between delegations from the four Arab parties to discuss the possibility of establishing a joint list. The delegations agreed to continue discussions because they could not reach agreement on an initial text on the subject. There are indeed a number of problems that are hindering the establishment of the joint list, and they are:

1. The dispute over whether to establish a joint list based on unity of opinion and goals and a single election platform, or a technical list for passing the elections only and obtaining the maximum number of elected officials.

2. Is it possible for the Joint List to be part of a government agreement and can it be an official part of the opposition or a blocking bloc?

The political and principled debate regarding these two issues seems marginal compared to the disputes regarding the arrangement of seats that will follow, which are:

3. The dispute over the leadership of the list and the first place on the list between Ra'am and Hadash.

4. The dispute over the order of seats in the first four places, which shows the strength of each party, with each party claiming to be the strongest.

5. The dispute over each party's share of the first 15 seats, which are almost guaranteed in the event of an increase in voting percentages in Arab society following the establishment of the Joint List, while the dispute is also over the order of the parties according to their strength in Arab society, and this is a controversial issue.

6. There is currently no controversy about introducing a Jewish candidate or candidates from outside the four parties to establish a joint Jewish-Arab list, because the issue itself has not yet been discussed at this stage.

It goes without saying that the dispute over the arrangement of seats and the number of representatives each party will have in the guaranteed seats not only reflects the strength of the parties, but also has financial and economic implications, as this forms the backbone of each party's budget.

Despite the debate about the degree of power of the parties trying to "prove" who is stronger, the prevailing opinion in Arab society, which has not changed even in official media polls, is that the order of power and size is undoubtedly:

1. Hadash

2. RAAM

3. Ta'al (Tibi)

4. Balad

This is an arrangement that has not changed, and it is advisable not to waste time on it or exacerbate the disputes surrounding it and invent selective polls (which is a polite expression).

In a meeting with Al-Nas Radio this morning, MK Mansour Abbas said: "We held a serious and respectful discussion yesterday with the other Arab parties. We want a joint list, but we do not rule out the idea of establishing two lists by agreement and coordination between the parties."

If this is the beginning, then what will the continuation and the ending look like?!

The circumstances that the country, and especially Arab society, have been going through since the beginning of the war until now, as well as the anger that is overwhelming Arab society over what is happening to their brothers and people in Gaza, require the Arab parties to establish a joint list, a 100% joint list and not just on paper, and not "technically" and not two lists by agreement. The first goal we are striving for now is to overthrow the Netanyahu and right-wing regime in order to truly end the war and begin to seek historic reconciliation between the two peoples. In addition, the struggle against the consequences of Netanyahu's regime on Arab society will not succeed without adequate representation of Arab society in the Knesset.

Here it is necessary to introduce the factor of the Arab-Jewish partnership into the discussion on the establishment of the Joint List: a broad Jewish-Arab joint list is much stronger and has a broader practical impact, a stronger meaning and a greater advantage for Arab society and for ending the war and defending democracy, especially for achieving the first goal: to overthrow the right-wing regime and end the war in Gaza completely. And the groups that make up the Joint List should be clear this time: this issue must be put on the table for discussion from now on. And the Jewish democratic forces should work on uniting forces to support the establishment of this broad Joint List.

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