The Israeli opposition and the proposed gas deal

There has been much talk recently about the position of Israel’s Joint Arab List on the law regulating the natural gas market and its profits, as well as its position on the legality of making a deal with the government in which the Arabs support the adopting of the pending law in exchange for meeting the economic and political demands of the Arab minority in Israel.

So, why is the Joint List voting against the natural gas law proposed by the government? Even if we refer to the tiniest details of the law and its economic, social and national consequences, the answer to this question is simple: because the proposed law is a government proposal the Arab Joint List as an opposition party will not vote for a law proposed by the government. We must oppose the government in the parliament, not only politically. But are we actually an opposition party? Should we be considered in the same opposition ranks as Yesh Atid or Yisrael Beiteinu? Or even the Zionist Camp or Meretz? Are we supposed to bring down the racist government by means of the parliament? Are we supposed to live and coexist with the Zionist opposition that works hard to uphold the Jewishness of the state and preserve it time and time again? Didn’t the Zionist camp vote a few days ago on what is known as the terrorist law that criminalises any political activity, even if it is wearing a t-shirt – is this the opposition we should be working with? Didn’t Yesh Atid withdraw from voting on the force-feeding law allowing Netanyahu to pass it at 5am? Are we still sitting on “the opposition”? Where are the fundamentalist Jewish parties today that worked with in opposition yesterday?

The fact of the matter is that the Joint List is not an opposition party. The opposition created in a proportional parliamentary system is a mechanism to ensure that the democratic process is functioning through political monitoring. It also aims to create a balance amongst various political forces in order to prevent the monopoly of the ruling party or coalition. Giving the opposition an official status and position aims to ensure that the various political forces are given the opportunity in the transfer of authority. This is based on the political consensus and agreement, which is customary in every country. Therefore, just as we do not participate in the coalition, we must not participate in the opposition.

These questions would not have been asked if it weren’t for the deal offered by Netanyahu to the Arabs to facilitate the process of passing the natural gas law in exchange for granting the Arab budget. The Joint List is the only party outside the coalition that represents a clearly defined social group (the Arabs), and therefore he can grant them with funding or decisions that directly serve the interests of the Arabs.

I am certainly not calling for the immediate acceptance of this proposal or supporting it and making it a reality. There still have not been any serious discussions regarding the economic predictions for the standards of social justice and the suitability of the economic vision for our demands as a minority. We are not prepared in any case to turn the Joint List into a platform of national Arab affairs and at this time, we are not in the position to evaluate and invest real joint political power – but this is the situation we are being put in at the moment. This requires us to take a serious stance on what it means to participate in the political game within a joint list, because political and parliamentary contention can take us to opposite ends at the same time.

As a result, one of two things is likely to happen: either the dynamics of the parliamentary Joint List will be transformed into a framework representing the national interests of Arab Israelis; or the Joint List will be turned into a regular opposition party that has no intention or internal desire to challenge the Zionist hegemony by building the potential for national consensus.

Voting against the gas law is nothing more than a random act taken by an Israeli opposition party that sees itself as the antithesis of the coalition and nothing more; and the same can be said for being short-sighted and refusing any talk about making a deal with the coalition. There is nothing wrong with the term “deal” here, as there are perceptive deals and, as we see it, participating in the Knesset is a perceptive deal.

We must give serious thought to future independent work without being affiliated with the Israeli opposition or feeling their guardianship over us. When we say “deal”, we are talking about a national minority that will not accept less than its proportional share of natural national resources.

As I have previously said, we are not ready for such deals, but the parliamentary dynamics we are facing will result in two possibilities: either a joint list that will work towards organising the Arabs nationally, or an opposition party that will meekly take its place in the Knesset. I do not know if making the gas deal will result in the first scenario; however, randomly voting as an opposition party that is the antithesis of the coalition will inevitably result in the second scenario in the long run.

Translated from Arab48 on 9 September 2015.

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