Israel’s Arab Parties Face a Difficult Bargain

In the Israeli city of Rahat, as residents streamed toward the polling station in late October, one Arab voter said, “I’ve voted dozens of times and never seen a crowd like this.” He hoped that Arabs in Israel “want to be part of the government.”But entering government demands a bargain for Israel’s Arab parties. The benefit is having more influence over their constituents’ main priorities, like funding infrastructure and policing, while helping remove Prime Minister and National Security Minister , who oversees the police. But , whose Yashar party leads the opposition bloc, has set conditions for prospective coalition partners: recognizing Israel as a “Jewish, democratic, liberal and egalitarian state,” accepting compulsory military or civilian service, and supporting the dismantling of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in the Gaza Strip.