Arab party leader waiting by the phone for call from Gantz

Joint List leader Ayman Odeh says he expects Blue and White leader Benny Gantz will pick up the phone tonight and invite him to join a center-left coalition, as an exit poll predicts a significant boost for the Arab political alliance.

“I assume I’ll get a call from Gantz tonight,” says Odeh, according to Channel 13.

Gantz has ruled out teaming up with Odeh’s Joint List. Arab parties have never sat in an Israeli government coalition for ideological reasons, and, mutually, Jewish parties have long opposed their inclusion. Odeh broke with decades of longstanding opposition earlier this year, announcing he would be willing to join a coalition, under certain conditions.

Odeh credits Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fiery rhetoric against Arab voters for the ostensible increase in turnout in Arab communities.

“Netanyahu’s attack helped us get the voters out,” he says.

Official results have yet to be released.