Like its predecessors, the current election campaign began negatively, with no party smart enough to present itself as an alternative to Arab Israelis over the Joint Arab List. None have guaranteed slots for Arab representatives on their slates or even address Arab voters with plans and solutions relevant to the sector.
However, at the height of an election campaign, when neither party was able to emerge with a lead, it hit them – it was time to try something new and appeal to the Arab public.
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In the April 2019 elections, the Arab public remained at home for the most part out of disinterest and a feeling that no one cared. Fast-forward a year, and for the first time ever, the two largest parties in Israel ardently courted Arab voters.
Likud, which in 2015 warned voters about how the "Arabs are voting in droves" and only a few months ago tried to deploy CCTV camera in polling stations in Arab communities, held a rally in Tamra, in northern Israel, while Blue and White spent over 1 million shekels ($280,000) on a special campaign in Arabic.
Even the Labor-Gesher-Meretz alliance woke up and declares, albeit in the last minute, that it will not enter a government without a pledge that Professor Alean Al-Krenawi be named the first Bedouin minister.
It is also important to note the change in semantics: All parties made sure to separate their criticism of the Joint Arab List and the Arab public itself. True, reaching out to the Arab public at the end of the election campaign is too little and too late. It was a strategic move – not necessarily one that will move the needle in the Arab polls.
Still, it is certainly a welcome step that indicates positive change and makes Arab voters major players in the political game. It also sets the stage for a real alternative to the Joint Arab List to emerge.
Last week Joint Arab List leader Ayman Odeh claimed that there is no such thing as Arab Israelis only Arab citizens. So it is clear that our hope of becoming an integral part of Israel can only be realized with representatives who work for integration and a true partnership in the country.
It may be that, after the polls close tonight, a government will finally emerge. But the political logjam may continue and culminate in another election campaign. But one thing is certain - we will always remember the March 2020 elections as those who first put Arab Israelis on the political map as a major player.
