Arab parties extend a hand to try and topple Netanyahu, but challenges remain

TAYIBE, Israel (AP) — A veteran Arab lawmaker in Israel says his bloc is willing to break with decades of precedent and join forces with Jewish-led parties in a shared bid to end Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's long rule.

“We want to do things that we did not do in the past in order to remove this criminal government,” Ahmad Tibi, a senior member of the Arab Joint List, told The Associated Press.

But any such partnership could be politically fraught for both sides. For the Joint List, it would mean backing a government unlikely to end Israel’s wars or curb settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. For Netanyahu’s opponents, it would mean aligning with parties that not only criticize Israeli policies, but reject its identity as a Jewish state.

After historic voter turnout delivered Arab-led parties a record share in Israel's parliament, Tibi said the Joint List is willing to support an anti-Netanyahu government without joining it. That could reassure Jewish-led factions that view them with suspicion and satisfy their own constituents. It would still give the Joint List major influence.

Only one Arab party has ever served in an Israeli government, in 2021. But that party, Ra’am, is much more conciliatory than the Joint List and held fewer seats. Ra’am is willing to join another anti-Netanyahu government as a partner, but any such arrangement would still need the support of the Joint List.

If the Jewish-led parties reject such a partnership, then it would prove Israel is “an ethnocracy, not an absolute democracy for all citizens,” Tibi said.

Most of the Palestinian population in what is now Israel fled or were expelled during the 1948 war surrounding its creation. Those who remained were granted citizenship, including the right to vote, and today they and their descendants make up some 20% of the population.

Many Jewish Israelis have historically viewed Arab-led political parties with suspicion. That distrust has been reinforced by lawmakers who have defended or praised Israel's enemies.

The Joint List, a coalition of three left-wing and nationalist parties, rejects what it refers to as the “racist Zionist consensus” in Israel. It calls for partnering with Jewish Israelis who support a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, territories occupied in the 1967 Mideast war. It rejects Israel’s identity as a Jewish state, calling for equal rights for all its citizens.

Many Jewish Israelis see that as support for the country’s enemies at a time of war. Netanyahu has encouraged such sentiments, lodging unproven accusations of electoral fraud against the Arab-led parties and portraying them as a threat to national security.

That creates a dilemma for Netanyahu’s main opponents, led by former general Gadi Eisenkot .

In the campaign, they portrayed Netanyahu as a corrupt leader who failed to prevent the Oct. 7, 2023, attack and then blocked a public inquiry into it. They cast the election in existential terms, saying Netanyahu’s far-right government threatened Israel’s democratic institutions.

They won 48 seats in the 120-member Knesset, compared to 53 for Netanyahu’s coalition. The Joint List won 11 seats and Ra’am won 8, making them crucial to forming an anti-Netanyahu majority.

The Joint List could help an anti-Netanyahu bloc take power by voting for it or by abstaining to lower the threshold needed for a majority. Either arrangement could allow opposition parties to form a government without requiring the Joint List to become part of their administration. Joining could put its lawmakers in the uncomfortable position of being part of a government waging wars in Gaza and Lebanon that they oppose.

Some of Eisenkot’s allies welcome Arab support while others are opposed, pointing to past statements by Joint List leaders they argue deny Israel’s legitimacy or support its enemies.

Tibi said he was under no illusions that a partnership with Netanyahu’s opponents would end the wars or bring about a Palestinian state. But he said a “repair government” would improve the lives of Palestinian citizens, by ending Netanyahu’s rule and also potentially addressing local issues like a wave of violent crime in Arab communities.

Eisenkot has said Arab-led parties must meet certain conditions in any partnership, including calling Hamas a terrorist group that needs to be destroyed.

Tibi said the conditions do not apply to parties like the Joint List that want to provide outside support.

The Joint List and Ra’am have denounced Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack and any violence against civilians. But they have refused to brand Hamas a terrorist group or call for its destruction, saying that doing so would justify Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza.

Tibi said both the Oct. 7 attack and Israel’s response to it were immoral.

The veteran lawmaker has long been a lightning rod for right-wing attacks on Arab parties. During Israel’s 2019 elections, Netanyahu, popularly known as Bibi, campaigned on the slogan “Bibi or Tibi?” to warn voters that opposing him meant relying on Arab-led parties to form a government.

Tibi said Tuesday that the election result had turned the slogan on its head.

“When he said ‘Bibi or Tibi,’ he incited against Arabs,” he said. “Now, it’s ‘Tibi,’ because Arab voters went in a very massive way to take part in the elections. It’s definitely our story this time.”