Youssef Jabareen, head of the Joint Arab List, believes that what distinguishes the recent Israeli elections is that they did not grant either government or opposition camp the majority necessary to form the new government individually, in addition to depriving Benjamin Netanyahu of obtaining a majority and celebrating with members of his extremist government a new session, as he put it.
In response to a question about what the Arab citizen in Israel will gain due to the seats achieved by the Arab lists in the Knesset, Jabareen said that the elected members of the Arab lists can play a decisive role in ousting Netanyahu’s candidate for the presidency of the Knesset, in addition to preventing the passage of legislation that he had adopted in previous years.
Jabareen also indicated that the new members will be able to raise issues that directly affect the Arab citizen within the Knesset, including issues of widespread crime and violence rates in Arab societies, as well as housing issues, expanding the cadastral boundaries of Arab towns, and recognizing Arab towns that were not recognized before, especially in the Negev.
Regarding their refusal to enter into a government coalition, the head of the Joint Arab List explained that the matter is related to their political program and their national, political and moral constants, such as the issue of equality between all citizens, the Palestinian issue, and the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders. However, Jabareen expressed at the same time their willingness to cooperate with the opposition leadership to bring about change through their support for the opposition from outside the government.
The head of the Joint List also explained his willingness to publish the sources of funding for the Joint List elections in response to what was reported about Arab party leaders receiving money from foreign parties, pointing to Netanyahu’s role in what is rumored in this regard in order to undermine the election results on the one hand and exploit him to vote for his candidate in the Knesset on the other hand.
How does Youssef Jabareen, head of the Joint Arab List, explain the Arab lists not running in the elections as a single bloc? What makes the Arab citizen in Israel trust that they will adhere to what they promised during the election campaign? Do their priorities relate to the issues of the Arab community inside Israel or to Palestinian issues in general?
You will find answers to these and other questions in this week's program Without Chains. The episode will be broadcast today, Saturday, at 5:30 GMT. You can watch episodes of the program at the following link
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