For years, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used Arab political participation as a warning to voters, famously campaigning with the slogan “Bibi or Tibi”. Now, the very lawmakers he once portrayed as a threat to his political future could hold the key to ending his rule, as Arab-led parties offer to back a Jewish-led opposition government following Israel’s fractured election.According to a report by The Associated Press (AP), Ahmad Tibi, a senior lawmaker from the Arab-led Joint List, has offered to cooperate with opposition parties led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot to remove Netanyahu from power.“We want to do things that we did not do in the past in order to remove this criminal government,” Tibi told AP. He said his bloc was prepared to support an opposition government without necessarily joining its governing coalition.A day earlier, on Wednesday, another Arab-led party, Mansour Abbas-led Ra’am, had also announced that it would recommend Eisenkot to Herzog to form the next government. The party’s eight lawmakers joined the opposition leader’s growing support base, according to The Times of Israel.The October 27 election has left Israel’s 120-member Knesset without a clear majority. Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc secured 53 seats, while the opposition led by Eisenkot won 48.The Joint List secured 11 seats and another Arab-led party, Ra’am, won eight. Together, the two Arab-led parties hold 19 seats, potentially taking the opposition’s strength to 67, above the 61 seats required to form a government.The numbers have placed Arab lawmakers in a potentially decisive position in Israel’s government formation process. The Joint List could extend parliamentary support to an opposition-led administration without taking ministerial positions or formally entering the coalition.Such an arrangement could allow Jewish-led opposition parties to form a government while relying on Arab lawmakers during crucial parliamentary votes.A break from decades of political precedentArab parties have historically remained outside Israeli governing coalitions, although Arab lawmakers have previously supported governments through parliamentary votes.A major breakthrough came in 2021, when Mansour Abbas-led Ra’am became the first independent Arab party in decades to formally join an Israeli governing coalition. It supported the government formed by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, helping end Netanyahu’s 12 consecutive years in power.The Joint List, however, has traditionally maintained a more confrontational position towards Israel’s political establishment. The alliance of three Arab-led parties opposes Israel’s definition as a Jewish state and advocates equal rights for all citizens, alongside Palestinian statehood in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.Its willingness to support an opposition government therefore marks a significant departure from its earlier approach.Opposition’s dilemma over Arab supportDespite the possibility of securing a parliamentary majority, cooperation with Arab-led parties could prove politically difficult for Eisenkot and his allies.Some opposition figures are reluctant to depend on lawmakers whose positions on Israel’s national identity, the Palestinian issue and the war in Gaza differ sharply from their own.According to The Times of Israel, Eisenkot has set four conditions for parties seeking to join his government, including recognising Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, accepting the values of its Declaration of Independence, supporting mandatory service for all citizens and recognising Hamas as a terrorist organisation that must be dismantled.However, Ahmad Tibi has argued that these conditions should not apply to the Joint List if it provides parliamentary support to an opposition government without formally joining the coalition.
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