Politics taz
After the Knesset election in Israel: A firewall against the Netanyahu bloc
Forming a government in Israel will be complicated. The obvious must be stated: without the Arab parties there can be no change. more...
Deutsch (original) ·Auto-translated to English
T he Knesset election last week was historic in several ways. A record number of Israelis voted, and the Arab parties Ra'am and United List won a combined 19 seats. But even when it became clear that the Eisenkot bloc's 48 seats were well below the 61 needed for a coalition, the party leaders failed to state the obvious: no change is possible without a partnership with the Arab parties.
Some leaders of the Eisenkot bloc are ruling out cooperation with Arab parties on the grounds that they are seeking a “Zionist” coalition. Ra’am, an Arab-Muslim party, is more Zionist than any party in the Netanyahu bloc. It respects Israeli democracy, has recruited a centrist Jewish politician to make the Jewish-Arab partnership visible, and is explicitly demanding that Arab Israelis perform voluntary community service.
However, the United List is also hesitant to join an anti-Netanyahu coalition. Its leader Yousef Jabareen said before the election that his party would not join the Eisenkot bloc but would only support a minority government from vote to vote. This is not an offer for cooperation, but a recipe for new elections soon. But they would only benefit Netanyahu: from 2019 to 2022 there were five elections in three years that splintered the parties of the center and the left, while the right radicalized and moved closer together. The result was the “Coalition of Horror.”
The taz is an independent, left-wing and opinionated daily newspaper. We have been arguing in our comments, essays and debate texts since the taz was founded in 1979. We often cannot and do not want to agree on an opinion. That's why you'll find some completely opposing positions here - all part of the very broad left-wing spectrum of opinions.
After 17 years of Netanyahu and four years of the worst government in Israel's history, millions of Jewish and Arab Israelis voted for change last week. The Change bloc made up of Jewish and Arab parties won 67 seats, a clear majority. You must all now recognize that the necessary historical change can only be achieved through partnership. And they are united against the Netanyahu bloc.
Translated from English by Naomi Henkel-Gümbel