Finally, a voice? The impact of the Joint List on the Palestinian-Arab minority in Israel (original) (raw)
This paper examines the impact of the unification of Israel’s main Arab parties into one electoral pact, called the ‘Joint List’, ahead of the 2015 elections. It seeks to bridge a substantial gap in the current literature by analysing the period since 2015, drawing on original interviews with members of the Palestinian political and civil society elites in Israel. It examines what effect, if any, the Joint List has had on Palestinian political organisation and mobilisation inside the minority. It asks whether the Joint List can enable Palestinians in Israel, so far largely ignored in the peace process, to have a voice in any post-Oslo settlement. This paper finds that while the Joint List was able to translate initial public enthusiasm into electoral success, it has not yet been able to have a tangible impact on the minority’s political influence. This paper argues that Palestinians in Israel will play a decisive role in a future political solution, but mainly due to a process this paper calls ‘Palestinian transnationalism’, rather than the direct actions of the minority’s political leadership.
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