Jewish voters reject Arab coalition partners
Analyst Antony Loewenstein says Israeli election results show a majority of Jewish voters oppose sharing government with Arab parties.
By Leila Saeed ·
Approximately 40% of Israeli Jewish voters oppose forming a government that includes Arab partners, according to independent journalist Antony Loewenstein. He argues this bloc represents the structural norm in Israeli politics rather than a temporary anomaly.
Loewenstein, author of The Palestine Laboratory, told Middle East Eye that the gap between the leading parties is narrow. He noted that Benjamin Netanyahu and the opposition bloc hold similar positions on key issues, including the conflicts in Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank.
The analyst stated that a sizeable proportion, if not the majority, of Jewish Israeli voters do not believe in Arab self-determination. He added that many in this group want to remove Arabs from Palestine and reduce the Arab population within Israel itself.
Loewenstein pointed out that Arab parties won a large share of the vote. He attributed this surge to high turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel and support from left-leaning Jewish voters who wanted to back the Arab parties.
In a typical political system, those parties would hold seats in the government or a strong opposition, he said. However, both the Netanyahu bloc and the opposition have refused to include Arab partners in their coalitions.
This refusal confirms that Jewish supremacy remains the governing rule, Loewenstein concluded. The election results show that the central issue in Israel is not limited to the leadership of one individual.
Source: Middle East Eye
