Political trends in the Israeli Arab population and its vote in parliamentary elections

Abstract

Full Arab Israeli involvement in the national political system is disappearing from the Israeli political scene. A parallel system is being developed by the community's political leaders. Within this new structure, national elections and the Knesset are viewed as marginal; they serve mainly as a PR arena intended to bring the Arab Israeli message to Jewish/Zionist awareness. Judging from the evidence of recent election results among Arab voters, it is possible to cautiously conclude that the Israeli Arab political stance is less and less a part of the general Israeli political culture.

Keywords:

• Israeli Arabs
• voting patterns
• political participation
• elections
• Israel
• political culture

Notes

 1. As'ad Ghanem and Muhammad Mustafa, “The Palestinians in Israel and the 2006 Knesset Elections: Political and Ideological Implications of Election Boycott,” Holy Land Studies 6, no. 1 (2007): 51–73.

 2. Many more pertinent elements will not be analysed here due to the limit on the length of the paper. A sample of these studies: Orit Ichilov, “Pride in One's Country and Citizenship Orientations in a Divided Society: The Case of Israeli Palestinian Arab and Orthodox and Non-Orthodox Jewish Israeli Youth,” Comparative Education Review 49, no. 1 (February 2005): 44–61; Yossi Yonah, “Israel as a Multicultural Democracy: Challenges and Obstacles,” Israel Affairs 11, no. 1 (Winter 2005): 95–116; Majid al-Haj, “Whither the Green Line? Trends in the Orientation of the Palestinians in Israel and the Territories,” Israel Affairs 11, Issue 1 (Winter 2005): 183–206; Amal Jamal, “The Ambiguities of Minority Patriotism: Love for Homeland versus State among Palestinian Citizens of Israel,” Nationalism and Ethnic Politics 10, no. 3 (Fall 2004): 433–71; Muhammad Amara and Izhak Schnell, “Identity Repertoires among Arabs in Israel,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 30, no. 1 (January 2004): 175–193; Hillel Frisch, “Positions and Attitudes of Israeli Arabs Regarding the Arab World, 1990–2001,” Middle Eastern Studies 39, Issue 4 (October 2003): 99–120; Amal Jamal, “Beyond ‘Ethnic Democracy’: State Structure, Multicultural Conflict and Differentiated Citizenship in Israel,” New Political Science 24, no. 3 (September 2002): 411–31.

 3. http://www.cbs.gov.il/reader/newhodaot/hodaa_template.html?hodaa = 201111101

 4. Consult http://www1.cbs.gov.il/ts for the Israeli official figures.

 5. Alexander Bligh, “The Intifada and the New Political Role of the Israeli Arab Leadership,” Middle Eastern Studies 35, no. 1 (January 1999): 134–64.

 6. Avraham Sela, “Politics, Identity and Peacemaking,” Israel Studies 10 (Summer 2005): 15–71; Muhammad Amara and Izhak Schnell, “Identity Repertoires among Arabs in Israel,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 30 (2004): 175–193”; Alexander Bligh, “The Final Settlement of the Palestinian Issue and the Position of the Israeli Arab Leadership,” Israel Affairs 9 (January 2003): 290–308; Ramzi Suleiman, “Perception of the Minority's Collective Identity and Voting Behaviour: The Case of the Palestinians in Israel,” Journal of Social Psychology 142 (December 2002): 753–66.

 7. Jamal, “The Ambiguities.”

 8. Dr. As'ad Ghanem and Muhammad Mustafa, “The Palestinians in Israel and the 2006 Knesset Elections: Political and Ideological Implications of Election Boycott,” Holy Land Studies 6, no. 1 (2007): 51–73.

 9. Falk, Richard. “Azmi Bishara, the right of resistance, and the Palestinian ordeal.” Journal of Palestine Studies 31, no. 2 (Winter 2002): 19; Fraser, Abigail, and Avi Shabat. “Between Nationalism and Liberalism: The Political Thought of Azmi Bishara.” Israel Affairs 9, nos. 1&2 (Autumn/Winter 03): 16-36; Diskin, Abraham. “Israel.” European Journal of Political Research 47, no. 7/8 (November 2008): 1019–1024; Ram, Uri. “Tensions in the “Jewish Democracy”: The Constitutional Challenge of the Palestinian Citizens in Israel.” Constellations: An International Journal of Critical & Democratic Theory 16, no. 3 (September 2009): 523–536.

10. See, for example, Supreme Court cases 50/03; 651/03; .11225/03

11. Any party is entitled to add the votes it received beyond the qualifying threshold that is not sufficient for a whole seat to another competing party on condition that the receiving party got more votes than the donating.

12. Kennedy, R. S. “The Druze of the Golan: a case of non-violent resistance.” Journal of Palestine Studies 13 ii, no. 50 (1984): 48–64; Kirrish, Fadwa N. “Druze ethnicity in the Golan Heights: the interface of religion and politics.” Journal, Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs 13, no. 1 (1992): 122–135; Hajjar, Lisa. “Making identity policy: Israel's interventions among the Druze.” Middle East Report 200, no. 26 (1996): 2–6;10; “A would-be happy link with Syria.” Economist 390, no. 8619 (February 21, 2009): 48–49.

13. Lester M. Salaman and Helmut K. Anheier, Defining the Nonprofit Sector: A Cross-national Analysis (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997).