56% of Israelis do not want an Arab party in any future government

A majority of Israelis do not want to see an Arab party in a future government, according to the Occupation State’s Channel 12 polls, published yesterday.

The poll’s leading question, “Are you in favour, or against having an Arab party in the coalition in the future?” also revealed 56 per cent of respondents said they were against it, and 31 per cent said they were in favour.

Moreover, fifty-one per cent of Arab citizens were supportive of Jewish-Arab cooperation in the government, while 62 per cent of the Jews were not, according to the polls.

According to Haaretz, only 35 per cent of those surveyed said they believed the ruling coalition should remain in power.

The coalition marked one year in office yesterday, but is struggling to survive. The Channel 12 poll shows, if an election were to be conducted now, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud would remain the biggest party in the Knesset (parliament), with 36 out of 120 seats.

Netanyahu, now leader of the Opposition and vowing a comeback although he is on trial for alleged corruption, said the government was holding “one of the longest funerals in history”.

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Following weeks of bickering between the partners, the clearest sign of the coalition’s weakness came last week when a Bill to renew the extension of Israeli criminal and civil law to settlers in the occupied West Bank was defeated in Parliament.

The defeat has brought closer the prospect of a fifth election in three years, although the Bill is likely to be returned to the Knesset for a second attempt before the end of the month.

The settlers’ law, which would normally enjoy broad support in Parliament, and has been repeatedly renewed over the past five decades, fell victim to the increasingly bitter climate between the government and Opposition.

The ruling Bennett-Lapid coalition was formed of 61 Knesset members, comprising eight Israeli parties, in June 2021.