This is a sign of hope. Thee is NO path to peace that does not include Israeli Arabs as part of Israel’s government. That alliance, well-led, would serve as a model for a federation with Jordan and Palestine.
Israel Hayom reports. Some 52% of Blue and White would support the party sitting with the Joint Arab List in a coalition, a Monday poll by Army Radio found. The data showed that 44% of Blue and White voters opposed such a move, a figure Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich (National Union) lamented as being too low.“It’s sad that there’s a minority blinded by their hatred of [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,” he said.
On Sunday, Smotrich also fired back at Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman for mulling joining up with the Joint List. “I understand that [Lieberman] is going to sit in the same government as them, just so that he won’t have to sit with the religious sector,” Smotrich said.
As for Likud voters, unsurprisingly, a whopping 83% were against sitting with the Joint Arab List. The poll also revealed 44% would favor Netanyahu as prime minister, where 39% would vote for Benny Gantz to lead the country.
Gantz’s possible aligning with the Joint List caused him to be heckled by guests at United Torah Judaism MK Yakov Asher’s son’s wedding. Gantz arrived to the wedding, only to be greeted with chants like “Go with the Arabs” or “Only Bibi, we don’t want [Joint List MK Ahmad] Tibi.”
A Channel 13 News poll, published on Sunday, gave Netanyahu a small margin of victory: 40% of the vote, with Gantz getting 37%.
Regarding mandates, though, Channel 13 predicted 35 seats for Blue and White and 34 for Likud.
So who is to blame for such a logjam? Well, the same poll says that 41% of Israelis think Netanyahu should be held accountable if there is a third election, while 31% believe Yisrael Beytenu’s Avigdor Lieberman is to blame.