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 Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police. But Gadi Eisenkot, 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.