Arab parties clash over delayed Joint List agreement, but deny breakdown in talks

Tensions between Arab parties Ra’am and Hadash have slowed efforts to form a united slate for this year’s elections, though both parties insist that talks are continuing.

The parties have dismissed Hebrew media reports that a weekend summit held in Nazareth — the first such meeting since the factions signed an agreement in January to work toward running together — ended in an “explosive” breakdown.

A Hadash source told The Times of Israel on Sunday that the central source of tensions between the parties remains the fact that Ra’am has dragged its feet on presenting a unity framework — apparently the sole commitment made by the Arab factions in a January summit in Sakhnin.

At that meeting, the Islamist Ra’am, communist Arab-majority Hadash, secularist Ta’al, and nationalist Balad signed an agreement to work toward running together in the next election, following public pressure on the factions to unite and boost their influence in national politics.

At the same time, sources from both parties rejected reports that the summit in Nazareth descended into chaos, including claims that Ra’am leader Mahmoud Abbas was prevented from speaking.

While acknowledging that there was a “heated meeting,” the source added that “such disagreements are natural” and said that another meeting will take place in the coming weeks.

Ra’am MK Yasir Hujeirat similarly told The Times of Israel that reports of a deadlock or impasse were false.

“This was the first meeting. There will be additional meetings to continue the discussion. Negotiations, like any negotiation, are not a smooth process. What matters is the interests of Arab society,” he said.

But more than two months after public pressure, according to most accounts, effectively coerced the parties into signing the preliminary agreement in January, the sides seem to have made no progress toward a formal agreement.

According to Hadash sources, Abbas has held up talks for months over the demand that the bloc be formed as merely a technical alliance, which would split back into separate parties immediately following elections — to allow Ra’am the option of joining a governing coalition separately.

The source asserted that the delay was a negotiation strategy for Ra’am, whose “main goal is to join any government established,” in an apparent reference to the party’s reluctance to commit to whether it would sit in a government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Asked explicitly whether Ra’am would agree to sit in a government with Netanyahu, Hujeirat told The Times of Israel: “Ra’am wants — like the rest of the opposition — to replace Netanyahu.”

While Abbas has previously said he would not join a coalition with members of the current government, he has not explicitly vetoed joining a government led by Netanyahu’s Likud.

Elections are set to be held in October, with successive polls, including by Zman Yisrael, The Times of Israel’s sister site, showing the Joint List winning 12-15 seats, compared to 10 seats they are predicted to get if they run separately.

However, forming a united political force will make it more difficult for Ra’am to run an independent campaign calling for integration into a governing coalition.

Ra’am became the first Arab-majority party to sit in a government in decades, when it joined the Naftali Bennett-Yair Lapid coalition in 2021-22.

In recent months, Ra’am has made moves to distance the party from hardline Muslim organizations and boost its legitimacy among Zionist Israeli parties, including by opening the party to Jewish candidates and separating from the Islamic Movement’s religious council to which it is linked.

Tal Schneider contributed to this report.