Arab Israelis Lose Trust in the Political Process

​​When it comes to Palestinians and even Arab Israelis, Michael Kleiner doesn't mince his words. His campaign slogan was "It's us or them!" – and transferring "them" out of the country is a top priority on the agenda of his Herut Party.

Kleiner is a man of action, so he recently gathered a dozen of his supporters and went to Jaffa, a Jewish-Arab neighborhood in Tel Aviv. Residents shouted at him, calling him a racist who was out to destroy all peaceful coexistence in Israel. He countered: "This is our land! But we are willing to offer you generous compensation if you emigrate to one of the 22 Arab states."

In order to demonstrate the seriousness of this political pledge, a Herut activist with a strong American accent pulled out a stack of bills worth thousands of shekels and offered it as an advance payment. An Arab activist threw the money on the street, where it was promptly collected by passersby, some of whom were presumably Jewish. The right-wing demonstrators only left the scene after someone threw a firecracker.

Anti-Arab rhetoric of right-wing parties

The Herut Party had little chance of getting elected to the parliament. But two other much larger parties are also advocating the ethnic cleansing of Israel, although they avoid using the word "transfer".

One of these parties is the National Union/Mafdal joint list, which held 8 out of a total of 120 seats before the elections; now the National Union party is up at 9 seats. Party leader Rabbi Benny Alon, a former government minister, sees Jordan as the true Palestinian state for all Arabs living on the West Bank.

Avigdor Liberman, the head of the Israel Is Our Home Party (with 10 seats, the fourth largest party going into the elections, has gained two seats in the election), has called for an exchange of territory. According to his proposal, Israel would vacate large settlement areas and hand over large Arab-Israeli towns in Galilee (for example, Um-al-Fachem, population 40,000) to the Palestinian Authority – in exchange for territory with Jewish settlements on Palestinian soil.

One of Israel's most prominent journalists, Matti Golan, recently wrote for the business magazine Globes: "We are not talking about a 'transfer' because all of the houses would remain, only the border would be moved. This offer is not inhuman – quite the contrary. It brings families and nations together."

A friendly pat on the back

Liberman even got a friendly pat on the back from the architect of the Oslo Accords, Yossi Beilin. As head of the small Meretz Party, Beilin publicly invited Liberman to breakfast and described him as a "very intelligent politician, a first-class activist, and a wise Jew." Beilin later visited Jaffa and promised Arab residents "This is your home and we will fight the racists." But the damage had been done.

Meanwhile, nobody was particularly surprised or upset that the Sharonist Kadima Party, the largest political force in the country before and after the elections, had not included a single Arab candidate on its list.

The election campaign went largely ignored in many mixed Jewish-Arab towns, especially Jaffa, Lod and Ramle. A dwindling number of Arab-Israeli voters believe that their votes count or their representatives have any influence. Acting and future Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, said that he would conduct talks with all Zionist parties, essentially excluding all three Arab parties.

Growing gap between Jewish and Arab Israelis

Some would argue that Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz has pledged to nominate Israel's first Arab minister. But it remains an empty promise, one that Peretz, as a junior coalition partner, is in no position to keep anyway.

Excluding Arabs from mainstream politics has widened the gap between Jewish and Arab Israelis. The reasons cited are demographic; Jewish parties aim to maintain a stable majority in Israel. And this gap is clearly reflected in the 2006 parliamentary elections.

During the elections, Arab politicians also exacerbated the divisions within the country. Ahmad Tibi – a former advisor to Arafat and current leader of the United Arab List/Arab Renewal – called for an independent Arab-Israeli school system and a proportional share of the budget. Azmi Bishara's Balad Party – which wants "to transform Israel from a Jewish state to a democratic state (…) with equality for Jews and Arabs alike" – even demanded a separate parliament to deal with Arab problems, including the brain drain among Arab-Israeli intellectuals.

And the head of the Communist Party, Mohammad Barake, wants a new Israeli flag and national anthem that represent more than just the Jewish majority.

Apathy and a lack of trust in politics

Despite ambitious slogans during the election campaign, Arab politicians have an extremely poor track record in the Knesset. Only 8 percent of Arab voters feel that their interests are represented, and 83 percent think that these politicians have no influence whatsoever on the government. A broad-based boycott of elections by Arab citizens has reduced voter turnout: Only roughly 2 out of every 3 eligible Arab-Israeli voters cast a ballot.

The Popular Committee to Boycott the Election intends to tarnish the legitimacy of the Israeli government and help "combat Zionism". But it is also an expression of the helplessness of Arab politicians.

Igal Avidan

Qantara.de 2006

Translated from the German by Paul Cohen

Qantara.de

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