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- ‘There must be a safety net for our community,’ Joint List parliamentary bloc leader Ahmad Tibi tells Anadolu, demanding action on crime, discrimination and house demolitions
By Abdel Ra'ouf Arnaout and Rania Abushamala
JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL (AA) - The Joint List is “decisive” in efforts to prevent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from remaining in power, its parliamentary leader Ahmad Tibi said, outlining conditions for providing an alternative government with a parliamentary safety net.
In an interview with Anadolu, Tibi described next Tuesday’s Knesset elections as “important, fateful and dangerous,” saying his alliance was prepared to cooperate with the Jewish opposition without joining its government.
The Joint List brings together Tibi’s Arab Movement for Change, the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality and the National Democratic Assembly, known as Balad. A poll published Friday by the Israeli newspaper Maariv projected that it would win nine seats.
Tibi predicted increased turnout among Arab citizens, who account for about 20% of Israel’s population of more than 10 million.
He expected neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the Jewish opposition to secure the 61 seats required for a parliamentary majority, in line with various opinion polls.
- ‘Decisive’ role
“The Jewish blocs — the opposition and the ruling coalition — are evenly matched. Even if the United Arab List, led by Mansour Abbas, is added to the opposition bloc, it would reach only 56 or 57 seats, which would not be enough to bring down Netanyahu’s government,” Tibi said.
The United Arab List, also known as Ra’am, is led by Mansour Abbas.
“Only the Joint List is the decisive list that guarantees the removal of the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, (Finance Minister Bezalel) Smotrich and (National Security Minister Itamar) Ben-Gvir,” he said.
“The stronger the Joint List, the easier it will be to remove the government of crime, war and failure: Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.”
Tibi said the alliance was ready to cooperate with the Jewish opposition to prevent Netanyahu from forming a government or remaining at the head of a caretaker administration until another election.
“Netanyahu will not be able to form a right-wing government. He wants to prevent (Yashar leader Gadi) Eisenkot or the opposition from forming a government, so he wants to remain prime minister of a caretaker government,” he said.
“We in the Joint List are willing and ready to cooperate to prevent him from continuing to head a caretaker government. Parliamentarily, this is possible.”
He declined to explain how such a scenario would work.
“I do not want to go into the details. This is possible parliamentarily, and the Joint List will help and vote in favor of it,” he said, adding that his alliance had been the first to propose removing Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.
“We want to vote against him (Netanyahu) alongside the opposition and vote in favor of the opposition. This is natural, but it will change the current rules of the game inside parliament.”
- Safety net
Asked about the conditions for providing a parliamentary safety net to Eisenkot, a former Israeli military chief, Tibi said any arrangement must provide safeguards for Arab citizens.
“There must be a safety net for our community and our issues: crime and violence, personal security, house demolitions, the Kaminitz Law, an end to incitement and racism against our doctors, our nurses, bus drivers and every Arab in this country, much larger budgets and infrastructure,” he said.
The Kaminitz Law concerns enforcement against unauthorized construction, including the demolition of Arab homes.
“We also want a political horizon, which is an important source of hope. We will raise all these issues with anyone who wants us to help provide a safety net or support votes here and there,” Tibi said.
He stressed that such support would not mean joining an opposition-led government.
Eisenkot has said he wants a “Zionist government” committed to what he described as a “Jewish Israel” and aligned with his political and security positions.
“That is for those who want to join the government. We are not there,” Tibi said.
“We do not want to be responsible for incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, a war in Gaza, the continuation of Jewish terrorism and settlement activity, or house demolitions.”
Joining a government or coalition would entail “collective responsibility,” he said, while other arrangements could allow cooperation on specific issues.
“This will contribute to removing Netanyahu’s government and paving the way for an alternative government that is less bad,” he said.
“The next government will not be our dream government. It will not be a government of peace, but it will be less bad than the government of Netanyahu, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir.”
Asked whether he meant an Eisenkot-led minority government supported by the Joint List from within the Knesset, Tibi declined to elaborate.
“We will see the numbers, the results, how the current opposition behaves and which direction it wants to take,” he said.
“There are those calling for a national unity government. That would be bad, and it is not what the public wants, even the Israeli public. So we want to wait. We are pushing to bring down this government and establish an alternative.”
- ‘Fateful and dangerous’
Tibi said the coming election differed from previous votes because of the policies and plans of the current government.
“We are talking about a criminal and fascist government that has committed and plans to expand war crimes: ethnic cleansing, incitement against our community inside Israel, spreading crime, house demolitions, Jewish terrorism in the occupied territories and war crimes in Gaza,” he said.
He accused Smotrich of threatening to extend settlement policies to Galilee and said Smotrich and Ben-Gvir were threatening to bring down the Palestinian Authority and annex Palestinian territory.
Tibi also warned of “rising racism against Arab citizens and treating them as enemies.”
“This is a real threat to our existence, our future and our collective identity,” he said.
“That is why these elections are important, fateful and dangerous. We sense that our public is mature and wise, and wants to bring about change, exert influence and defend itself through voting.”
- Higher Arab turnout
Tibi said indicators pointed to increased participation among Arab voters.
“There is an upward trend in turnout. Today, the figure stands at 62%. At the same point before the previous election in 2022, it was 48%, so there is a clear difference,” he said.
“We want it to reach at least 70%. Some towns will reach that level.”
Higher Arab turnout could help remove Netanyahu from power and push one or two small right-wing lists below the electoral threshold, he argued, naming the lists of Ofer Winter and Yoaz Hendel as potential losses for Netanyahu’s camp.
Asked about expectations that increased Arab participation could also mobilize right-wing voters, Tibi said Jewish turnout might rise by two to four percentage points.
“Alongside increased Arab participation, this rise also contributes to pushing the small right-wing lists out,” he said.
“This will move Benjamin Netanyahu further away from being able to secure a decisive outcome in his favor.”
Tibi outlined several possible post-election scenarios, including an opposition-led government, a Jewish national unity government or Netanyahu remaining at the head of a caretaker administration until another election.
“Netanyahu wants to remain prime minister of a caretaker government and return to elections again in March or April. We will try to use our strength as the Joint List to thwart this scenario,” he said.
- Incitement concerns
Asked about right-wing election campaigns focusing on Arabs at the expense of economic and social issues, Tibi accused right-wing politicians and media outlets of using hostility toward Arabs to rally their supporters.
“The lowest common denominator is spreading hatred and incitement against everything Arab and everything Palestinian,” he said.
“That is why there is incitement against us, against Arab doctors, medical teams, drivers and pharmacists, on right-wing channels and among right-wing politicians.”
“They believe this incitement and hatred will consolidate the right-wing base on the eve of the election. This is very dangerous and threatens those being targeted-- Arabs,” he added.
Tibi also suggested Netanyahu might seek a military confrontation to influence the political landscape.
“Netanyahu would like to launch a war before the election. If he could, he would. It is said that Trump prevented him from doing so,” he added.
“He may do it after the election to impose a national unity government. All these scenarios are possible.”
Asked whether an election defeat for one side could trigger internal unrest, Tibi warned that a right-wing loss could lead to increased incitement, threats and attacks against Arab leaders, left-wing figures or opposition leaders.
“Netanyahu has no red lines. He was a partner in the incitement against Yitzhak Rabin back then, until he was killed,” Tibi said.
“He will also fuel the incitement machine at a greater and fiercer pace.”
Rabin, a former Israeli prime minister whose Labor government signed the Oslo agreement with the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1993, was assassinated by Jewish extremist Yigal Amir on Nov. 4, 1995, as he left a peace rally in Tel Aviv. The assassination followed intense political polarization and right-wing protests against the agreement.
Tibi predicted that the Joint List would win at least nine seats.
“If turnout among Arab citizens rises to 70%, 71% or 72%, we could win nine or 10 seats,” he said. “With those numbers, we will bring down Benjamin Netanyahu.”
Rania R.a. Abushamala
