Arab parties urge Ra’am to join efforts to revive Joint List

Arab-majority political parties Hadash, Ta’al, and Balad express their readiness to form a technical joint electoral list ahead of the upcoming elections and call on the Islamist Ra’am, whose officials did not take part in recent consultations, to join the efforts.

“We would want Ra’am to also be a partner in the political agreement, but we are aware of significant gaps in positions between us relating to the nature and path of the Joint List,” the statement says.

However, due to recognition of the “existential dangers” Arab parties are facing, Hadash, Ta’al, and Balad say they want to include Ra’am in an agreement forming a new Joint List “to strengthen Arab representation and overthrow the extremist right-wing government.”

Historically, the largest and most influential of the Arab factions, Hadash has long championed re-establishing the unified slate of Arab parties.

Despite uniting sharply dissonant ideological views, the alliance has a track record of energizing Arab voters and bringing the community unprecedented political influence. At its peak in 2020, it won 15 seats out of 120 in the Knesset, making it the third largest party.

The bloc split due to internal fighting in 2021, when Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am broke away to join the short-lived coalition led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid that ousted Netanyahu from power. The joint slate collapsed the following year as the nationalist Balad party pursued an ultimately unsuccessful solo run.

Ariela Karmel contributed to this report.