Although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacks members of the Joint Arab List and its possible collaboration with Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, at the same time his Likud party is launching an election campaign designed entirely for the Arab public.
The campaign, the brainchild of Likud MK Miki Zohar, takes critical aim at the Arab sector's political leaders in the Joint Arab List, alleging they only serve the interest of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and supporters of terror, rather than the interests of the Arab public in Israel – which is focused on regular issues and the economic situation in the sector.
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The Likud is in the midst of launching the campaign, which will be delivered via the Arab press and campaign billboards in Arab cities.
The campaign slogan says: "Ahmad Tibi and the Joint List will scare you, the Likud will protect you."
The campaign will also tell the Arab public that "The Joint List hasn't done anything for you. The Likud has brought 18 police stations to Arab cities." Additionally, according to the campaign, the Likud has doubled the amount of Arab university students and allocated billions of shekels to the Arab sector.
Zohar told Israel Hayom: "We want to tell the Arab public that we aren't against them. Just the opposite, we're for them, we are working on their behalf as we are working for all of Israel."
Explaining the apparent dissonance between Netanyahu's attacks on the Joint Arab List and the election campaign, Zohar said, "The prime minister criticizes their leadership but from his perspective the Arab population just as important to us as everyone."
Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman, meanwhile, said on Thursday that he hasn't discounted the notion of joining a coalition that includes the Labor-Gesher-Meretz faction.
As expected, his comments sparked considerable ire from the right-wing camp. Consequently, officials in his party sought to mitigate the damage by claiming he was only referring to Labor chief Amir Peretz and Gesher leader Orly Levy-Abekasis.
