Israeli Elcetions Once More: The Importance of a Seat
Yes, once again, it is Israeli elections. On Thursday, after all appeals and recounts were addressed, the final results came in. No big surprises except one: after a recount of three arab polling stations, Labor lost one seat in favor of the Arab R'am-Ta'al party. On the surface of it, this is not a big change, just one seat out of 120; but as our previous analysis shows, this seat actually matters, a lot as it sends the political system into a whole new ball game; a game in which the Arab parties can become key players if they choose to, thus helping their public.
The loss of one seat on the part of labor means that the chances of Olmert opting for a left-centre coalition have drastically fallen, for without that seat, Olmert's potential left centre coalition has dropped to 60 stable seats; just short of the needed 61 majority. This means that he will not be able to form a left-centre coalition unless the Arabs or the Ultra orthodox join in. If it will be the Ultra orthodox, chances are that Olmert will have to form a right wing coalition for a more stable coalition. The only ones that can stop that are the Arab parties. They must rise to the challange and overcome their distrust of Zionist parties, so that Olmert can have a wider manuvering range in foreign policy while they help integrate Arab Israelis better. The question is: can they?
Nazer Majeli, an Arab Israeli comentator for Israeli 'Ha'aretz' newspaper thinks they can. In an opinion article published April 4th, he writes that the Arab parties must get in touch with their Arab Israeli public. According to Majeli, most of the Arab Israeli population has accepted the idea of a Jewish state and advocates the idea of a two state solution while wishing to remain Israeli. His proof for this comes from the fierce opposition in the Arab Israeli public to the idea of a land swap in which Arab Israeli villages would be transfered to the PA's control not by unearthing; but by a simple redrawing of the borderline to the West, instaed of to the East, of cities like Um El Phahem.
While Majeli's idea might work it must overcome two hurdles. The first was mentioned by Mr. Majeli with regards to the Arab parties' need to get in tune with their voters; however the second is a bit more difficult to overcome. Majeli notes in his article that Olmert must overcome the psychological block of being portrayed as being dependent on the Arab vote for a coalition. However he does not ask himself where did this fear come from? The answer to this question is the higher hurdle the Arab parties must pass and that is the image they created for themselves, and irresponsibly for their whole public, of Israel haters.
Throughout this campaign and previous years, Arab Israeli members of parliament like Uzmi Bashara went to countries like Syria and called for the destruction of Israel, taking full advantage of Israeli democracy, knowing that they have parliamentary immunity. In addition leaders of the Muslim movement in Israel have also made similar calls, calling for the establishment of an Islamic state instead. These calls did not earn those voices the trust of their Jewish or Arab-Christian counterparts and have even worsen the situation of the Arab-Jewish relations when some fringe Arab Israeli citizens reacted to these calls and went on to make terrorist attacks on Israel, just as the Jewish terrorist did in Shfar'am later on. This kind of image, if it continues, will help no one. Not Arab-Israelis, not Jewish israelis and certainly not the Palestinains.
If the Arab parties want to show real responsibility to their public (whatever it may be) they must change their tone into a more moderate one; a tone that supports establishing a Palestinian state while emphasizing the legitimacy of Israel's existence as a Jewish state. They must do so quickly before it is too late. Already voices are heard even in Labor about the possibility that the party will have no choice but to seat in coalition with hard right parties like Israel Beytenu to maintain Labor's relevancy. When that happens things will become a lot more difficult and it will be too late for the Arab parties to help either the palestinians, or more importantly their public, Arab Israelis.
The loss of one seat on the part of labor means that the chances of Olmert opting for a left-centre coalition have drastically fallen, for without that seat, Olmert's potential left centre coalition has dropped to 60 stable seats; just short of the needed 61 majority. This means that he will not be able to form a left-centre coalition unless the Arabs or the Ultra orthodox join in. If it will be the Ultra orthodox, chances are that Olmert will have to form a right wing coalition for a more stable coalition. The only ones that can stop that are the Arab parties. They must rise to the challange and overcome their distrust of Zionist parties, so that Olmert can have a wider manuvering range in foreign policy while they help integrate Arab Israelis better. The question is: can they?
Nazer Majeli, an Arab Israeli comentator for Israeli 'Ha'aretz' newspaper thinks they can. In an opinion article published April 4th, he writes that the Arab parties must get in touch with their Arab Israeli public. According to Majeli, most of the Arab Israeli population has accepted the idea of a Jewish state and advocates the idea of a two state solution while wishing to remain Israeli. His proof for this comes from the fierce opposition in the Arab Israeli public to the idea of a land swap in which Arab Israeli villages would be transfered to the PA's control not by unearthing; but by a simple redrawing of the borderline to the West, instaed of to the East, of cities like Um El Phahem.
While Majeli's idea might work it must overcome two hurdles. The first was mentioned by Mr. Majeli with regards to the Arab parties' need to get in tune with their voters; however the second is a bit more difficult to overcome. Majeli notes in his article that Olmert must overcome the psychological block of being portrayed as being dependent on the Arab vote for a coalition. However he does not ask himself where did this fear come from? The answer to this question is the higher hurdle the Arab parties must pass and that is the image they created for themselves, and irresponsibly for their whole public, of Israel haters.
Throughout this campaign and previous years, Arab Israeli members of parliament like Uzmi Bashara went to countries like Syria and called for the destruction of Israel, taking full advantage of Israeli democracy, knowing that they have parliamentary immunity. In addition leaders of the Muslim movement in Israel have also made similar calls, calling for the establishment of an Islamic state instead. These calls did not earn those voices the trust of their Jewish or Arab-Christian counterparts and have even worsen the situation of the Arab-Jewish relations when some fringe Arab Israeli citizens reacted to these calls and went on to make terrorist attacks on Israel, just as the Jewish terrorist did in Shfar'am later on. This kind of image, if it continues, will help no one. Not Arab-Israelis, not Jewish israelis and certainly not the Palestinains.
If the Arab parties want to show real responsibility to their public (whatever it may be) they must change their tone into a more moderate one; a tone that supports establishing a Palestinian state while emphasizing the legitimacy of Israel's existence as a Jewish state. They must do so quickly before it is too late. Already voices are heard even in Labor about the possibility that the party will have no choice but to seat in coalition with hard right parties like Israel Beytenu to maintain Labor's relevancy. When that happens things will become a lot more difficult and it will be too late for the Arab parties to help either the palestinians, or more importantly their public, Arab Israelis.
posted by The Middle East News Addict at 8:54 AM
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