In a first, Arab party emerges as potential kingmaker in Israel polls

JERUSALEM • Israel's fourth election in two years appears to have ended in another stalemate, leaving many Israelis feeling trapped in an endless loop, but there was at least one surprising result: An Arab political party has emerged as a potential kingmaker.

Even more surprising, the party is Raam, an Islamist group with roots in the same religious movement as Hamas, the militant group that runs the Gaza Strip.

For years, Raam was rarely interested in working with the Israeli leadership and, like most Arab political parties, was ostracised by its Jewish counterparts. But according to the latest vote count on Wednesday, Raam's five seats hold the balance of power between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing bloc and the motley alliance of parties that seeks to end his 12 years in power.

The vote tally is not final, and Raam has previously suggested it would only support a government from the outside. Still, even the possibility of Raam playing a deciding role in the formation of a coalition government is making waves in Israel.

An independent Arab party has never been part of an Israeli government, although some Arab lawmakers supported Mr Yitzhak Rabin's government from the outside in the 1990s.

Suddenly in a position of influence, Raam has promised to back any group that offers something suitable in return for Israel's Arab minority, who today form about 20 per cent of the population.

"I hope to become a key man," Mr Mansour Abbas, the party's leader, said in a television interview on Wednesday. In the past, he added, mainstream parties "were excluding us, and we were excluding ourselves. Today, Raam is at least challenging the political system. It is saying, 'Friends, we exist here'."

The party is not in "anyone's pocket," he added. "I am not ruling out anyone, but if someone rules us out, then we will of course rule him out."

Either way, it would make for a strange partnership.

If Raam gave its backing to Mr Netanyahu's opponents, it would likely need to work with a right-wing opposition leader, Mr Avigdor Liberman, who has described some Arab citizens as traitors and called for them to leave the country.

If it supported the Netanyahu-led bloc, Raam would be working with a prime minister who enacted legislation that downgraded the status of the Arabic language and said that only Jews had the right to determine the nature of the Israeli state.

But Mr Abbas is prepared to consider these possible associations because he believes it is the only way for Arab citizens to secure government support in the fight against the central problems assailing the Arab community - gang violence, poverty and restrictions on their access to housing, land and planning permission.

In the past, "Arab politicians have been onlookers in the political process in Israel", he said in an interview with The New York Times in February. Today, he added: "Arabs are looking for a real role in Israeli politics."

Meanwhile, Israel has administered two doses of Covid-19 vaccine to more than half of its population, according to Health Minister Yuli Edelstein yesterday. Those vaccinated are deemed fully protected a week after receiving the second shot.

Mr Edelstein said 50.07 per cent of the overall population had received both vaccine doses, and 55.96 per cent the first dose.

NYTIMES, REUTERS