Arab parties

Reservists Party vows to form Zionist government, discusses potential alliance with Gantz

The Reservists Party is working toward a Zionist government, with talks underway for a potential alliance with Benny Gantz’s Blue and White ahead of the 2026 elections.

|ByKESHET NEEV
Yoaz Hendel, head of the Reservists’ Party, speaks during the party’s launch event ahead of the 2026 general elections, at Kibbutz Ma'ale HaHamisha near Jerusalem, November 19, 2025.
MK Ayman Odeh speaks at the annual Givat Haviva Conference for a Shared Society, Tuesday January 6, 2026.

'Remove Netanyahu': MK Odeh calls all Arab parties to unite before elections

“I call on all Arab parties: let us unite, all of us. Let us bring 17 mandates,” MK Ayman Odeh said.

|ByKESHET NEEV
Gadi Eisenkot attends a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem, December 9, 2025.

Gantz, Likud, Netanyahu attack Eisenkot after saying minority government of 58 seats is possible

“We will know how to form a government, even with 58 seats,” said Eisenkot during an interview for N12, which sparked a series of attacks and reactions from several politicians

|ByABRAHAM BLOCH
Yisrael Beytenu party chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on July 14, 2025.

Liberman rules out possibility of Arab, haredi partes in next government

The Yisrael Beytenu chair said that his decision reflects the "basic values of the Zionist movement."

|ByKESHET NEEV

What happens when opposition declares the government to be illegitimate?

The prospective government was referred to by its opponents as based on fraud, dangerous to Israel’s security, “Left,” incoherent and therefore illegitimate.

JUNE 27, 2021BySUSAN HATTIS ROLEF
THE NEW Israeli government is ruled by the ‘non-decision-making process’ in the mutual veto power granted to Yamina Party leader Naftali Bennett (left) and Yesh Atid Party leader Yair Lapid.

Israel is ready for an Arab party in the governing coalition - editorial

More than a fifth of Israel’s nine million citizens are Arabs, and there is every reason to include an Arab party in the new coalition.

MARCH 30, 2021ByJPOST EDITORIAL
Ra'am party leader Mansour Abbas at the party headquarters in Tamra, on election night, March 23, 2021.

Election survey: 87% of Israeli Arabs support entering or supporting gov't

Whether enough Jewish parties would be willing to sit with Arabic parties in order to form a government however, remains a different question altogether.

MARCH 14, 2021ByIDAN ZONSHINE
An Israeli Arab casts her ballot at a polling station inside a church in the northern town of Reineh, March 17, 2015.

Yesh Atid's Yair Lapid willing to cooperate with Arab parties

Lapid’s answer is a positive sea-change in the political discourse surrounding the Joint Arab List.

MARCH 1, 2021ByJEFF BARAK
MK YAIR LAPID: Arab parties deserve being part of decision-making process.

Netanyahu attempts to rally the Arab vote

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled on Friday to the Arab town of Umm el-Fahm to personally witness the one-millionth person in Israel to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

JANUARY 3, 2021ByJPOST EDITORIAL
PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu announces a peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, during a news conference at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on Thursday.

Kfar Bara leads the way among Israeli-Arab localities

Kfar Bara is characterized by a homogeneous population of 100% Muslim Arabs and has enjoyed relative electoral stability and strong local leadership for the last 15-odd years.

JULY 2, 2020ByRUTH WASSERMAN LANDE
A bird’s eye view of Kfar Bara, a thriving Muslim Arab community in central Israel with some 3,000 residents

Ayman Odeh, Joint List

Who is Ayman Odeh?

SEPTEMBER 16, 2019ByJEREMY SHARON
Ayman Odeh

Netanyahu's Facebook page sends warning of Arabs who 'want to destroy us'

"We turned to Facebook. They must act immediately to put an end to this racist and dangerous incitement by Netanyahu against the Arab population," said Joint List leader Ayman Odeh.

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019ByTZVI JOFFRE
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promises to do all he can to build a coalition in a press conference Monday 27.05.2019

All four Arab parties running together

“We will work to improve Arab turnout so the Joint List will be a force to be reckoned with in Israeli politics,” said Balad leader Mtanes Shehadeh.

JULY 30, 2019ByGIL HOFFMAN
The heads of Hadash, Ta'al and Ra'am parties agree to create a joint Arab List, July 27, 2019

All 4 Arab parties to run together in September elections

Balad leader MK Mtanes Shehadeh said he asked his counterparts in the other parties to postpone the press conference, "but we were refused."

JULY 29, 2019ByGIL HOFFMAN, EZRA TAYLOR
The heads of Hadash, Ta'al and Ra'am parties agree to create a joint Arab List, July 27, 2019