"Economy Minister Ayman Odeh and Health Minister Ahmad Tibi entered their offices in Jerusalem today." In this manner, many people on social media platforms are currently pointing out the "threat," the "slippery slope" and the "dangerous direction" in which coalition negotiations are headed.
While many Jews perhaps view this scenario as a bad dream, I would like to ask them to stop for a moment and try understanding how for many other Israelis – this is a good dream. More than a dream; it would be an important step toward realizing the desires of a sector that wants to see its representatives become partners in the decision-making processes that shape our shared future here.
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This desire to break down the walls of the Opposition began gaining steam over the past decade, even though these years have been complicated for the Arab public. On one hand, crime has become rampant, the policy of home demolitions has intensified, and there are still wide gaps between Jews and Arabs in many aspects of daily life, the economy, education, and culture. The nation-state law also didn't help the mood.
On the other hand, however, as the Arab population in Israel remembers and knows, it has been right-wing governments that allocated the most funds in recent decades to developing Arab communities. This has left an indelible mark.
Under these circumstances, the desire among many Arabs to integrate into daily life in Israel has steadily grown. The leaders are more attentive than ever to this aspiration, and the majority of the Arab public openly voices its wish to see its elected officials in the Knesset join a coalition and even sit in the government. Just as Arabs serve in important and influential positions in government ministries, banks, universities, politics, and the justice system.
We can go back and rummage through comments Arab politicians have made, and also understand the reservations over things that have been said and done. On the other hand, there's no need to play dumb – a large part of Jewish-Arab relations is tied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And we can appreciate that Arab citizens have faced difficult dilemmas regarding the tensions between their Israeli citizenship and this conflict with the Palestinians.
But it would be a missed opportunity on a historic scale to ignore the fact that in 2019, the Arab public is ready for its elected officials to join or support a coalition. The option currently on the table is support for a coalition headed by the Blue and White party – and is apparently more relevant now than it was during the days of the Rabin government following the resignation of the Shas party and after the alliance agreement between the two Arab parties at the time – Hadash, which comprises Jews and Arabs, and Abdulwahab Darawshe's Arab Democratic Party (Mada), which he established after leaving the Labor party.
One thing bears noting: A huge taboo in Arab society about joining Israeli political institutions has been broken. We can insist on seeing this as a threat; or, conversely, we can choose to see it as pragmatism, maturation and yes, even rapprochement.
