From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Leading Arab Israeli politician MK Ayman Odeh to quit politics
Carrie Keller-Lynn is a former political and legal correspondent for The Times of Israel
MK Ayman Odeh, the head of the Hadash party, announces he is set to quit politics and will not run in the party’s next primary, preceding the next Knesset election.
Hadash, a left-wing party with a communist agenda, was part of the Joint List of Arab-majority parties, and Odeh has led the shifting alliance since 2015.
He currently heads the Hadash-Ta’al alliance.
Channel 12 reports that Odeh has become disillusioned with Israeli politics and also felt that the Arab leadership in Israel needed a change.
However, analysts tell the Times of Israel that he was losing influence.
“It’s not surprising because he doesn’t have a real chance,” says Arab political analyst Ehab Jabareen.
“He lost a lot of his power within Hadash. He was never very stable, he always moved between camps in the party,” Jabareen tells The Times of Israel.
Looking forward to the next primary, Jabareen predicts that Odeh’s stepping aside “strengthens the position of Yousef Jabarin for the party leadership.”
The Times of Israel Community.