This is not the most likely outcome. They might also surrender and form a coalition with Netanyahu. But if they are willing to recognize Arab votes as legitimate, this could open the door to meaningful change - including in Gaza and the West Bank.
January 23, 2026 at 9:17 AM
This is not the most likely outcome. They might also surrender and form a coalition with Netanyahu. But if they are willing to recognize Arab votes as legitimate, this could open the door to meaningful change - including in Gaza and the West Bank.
And if this happens, and the block facing Netanyahu insists on not relying on Arab votes, there will be another election cycle. But if they are willing to negotiate something with the joint list or its components, we could see an alternative government.
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January 23, 2026 at 9:17 AM
And if this happens, and the block facing Netanyahu insists on not relying on Arab votes, there will be another election cycle. But if they are willing to negotiate something with the joint list or its components, we could see an alternative government.
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This isn't final at all, but if the joint list really reunifies, and if the elections are fair (big if), it means one thing: Bibi's extreme-right can't reach a 61-seat majority. A big joint list of 15-17 seats means Bibi is stuck with 50-53. No question about it.
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January 23, 2026 at 9:17 AM
This isn't final at all, but if the joint list really reunifies, and if the elections are fair (big if), it means one thing: Bibi's extreme-right can't reach a 61-seat majority. A big joint list of 15-17 seats means Bibi is stuck with 50-53. No question about it.
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But the public pressure stemming from the state of emergency of the Palestinian community, both after two years of genocide in Gaza and political repression at home, along with the sharp rise in criminal killings and gang violence, forced Abbas to move toward unity yesterday.
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January 23, 2026 at 9:17 AM
But the public pressure stemming from the state of emergency of the Palestinian community, both after two years of genocide in Gaza and political repression at home, along with the sharp rise in criminal killings and gang violence, forced Abbas to move toward unity yesterday.
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Back to the present. Ra'am's Mansour Abbas didn't want a joint list because he wants to be a supplement to the Bennett coalition. Bennett told him that if he runs with the joint list, he would be considered too extreme to be a partner, and Abbas accepted this reality.
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January 23, 2026 at 9:17 AM
Back to the present. Ra'am's Mansour Abbas didn't want a joint list because he wants to be a supplement to the Bennett coalition. Bennett told him that if he runs with the joint list, he would be considered too extreme to be a partner, and Abbas accepted this reality.
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The deal was conditioned on progress on the civilian internal front and the Palestinian issue. In the end, Gantz chickened out each time and collapsed the deal, but the JL was there and willing to use its power to make an impact.
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January 23, 2026 at 9:17 AM
The deal was conditioned on progress on the civilian internal front and the Palestinian issue. In the end, Gantz chickened out each time and collapsed the deal, but the JL was there and willing to use its power to make an impact.
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They propose a political project that shifts the direction of the Israeli center and center-left. This was the approach of the joint list in its previous iterations: it negotiated a supply and demand deal with the Gantz block.
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January 23, 2026 at 9:17 AM
They propose a political project that shifts the direction of the Israeli center and center-left. This was the approach of the joint list in its previous iterations: it negotiated a supply and demand deal with the Gantz block.
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Balad rejects any collaboration with Zionist parties and opposes the idea that Palestinian parties should participate in a political coalition. Hadash and Ta'al want to use their electoral influence to shape the political landscape, but only under certain conditions.
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January 23, 2026 at 9:17 AM
Balad rejects any collaboration with Zionist parties and opposes the idea that Palestinian parties should participate in a political coalition. Hadash and Ta'al want to use their electoral influence to shape the political landscape, but only under certain conditions.
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Ra'am was part of the previous Bennett coalition. It is running on a platform that states it wants to be part of a government serving the interests of Arabs within Israel and is willing to delay addressing the larger Palestinian issue.
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January 23, 2026 at 9:17 AM
Ra'am was part of the previous Bennett coalition. It is running on a platform that states it wants to be part of a government serving the interests of Arabs within Israel and is willing to delay addressing the larger Palestinian issue.
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There are four parties on the joint list: Socialist, Jewish-Arab Hadash (my party), Moderate Islamist Ra'am (Mansour Abbas's party), nationalist-liberal Balad (let's assume that Western pro-Palestine protestors would be Balad), and personalist Ta'al (Ahmad Tibi's one-man show).
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January 23, 2026 at 9:17 AM
There are four parties on the joint list: Socialist, Jewish-Arab Hadash (my party), Moderate Islamist Ra'am (Mansour Abbas's party), nationalist-liberal Balad (let's assume that Western pro-Palestine protestors would be Balad), and personalist Ta'al (Ahmad Tibi's one-man show).
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They acted under intense public pressure, which demands a unified list and expressed this in the demo. It is not yet final, but it's a major and surprising development that could significantly influence the next Israeli government.
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January 23, 2026 at 9:17 AM
They acted under intense public pressure, which demands a unified list and expressed this in the demo. It is not yet final, but it's a major and surprising development that could significantly influence the next Israeli government.
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Last night, during a large demonstration by the Palestinian community in Israel in Sakhnin against widespread crime in Arab society and the lack of action from the police and government, the four components of the Joint List signed a tentative agreement to reunite the list.
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January 23, 2026 at 9:17 AM
Last night, during a large demonstration by the Palestinian community in Israel in Sakhnin against widespread crime in Arab society and the lack of action from the police and government, the four components of the Joint List signed a tentative agreement to reunite the list.
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Having said that - today is a good day.
October 13, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Having said that - today is a good day.
The huge powers of the Palestine solidarity movement that erupted all over the world in the past 2 years must be channeled to a productive pressure campaign against the occupation and apartheid, and build a global front for a Palestinian state, isolating Israel and the US.
October 13, 2025 at 2:57 PM
The huge powers of the Palestine solidarity movement that erupted all over the world in the past 2 years must be channeled to a productive pressure campaign against the occupation and apartheid, and build a global front for a Palestinian state, isolating Israel and the US.
Therefore, it is critical to continue pressuring for persistence of the ceasefire, full withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, and Palestinian sovereignty over the Strip. It is also essential to pursue accountability for the genocide through legal and other tools.
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October 13, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Therefore, it is critical to continue pressuring for persistence of the ceasefire, full withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, and Palestinian sovereignty over the Strip. It is also essential to pursue accountability for the genocide through legal and other tools.
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