Israel is headed for its fourth election in the space of just two years. Hopefully, by the time Election Day on March 23rd comes and goes, we will have a more stable government that will be able to tackle the country's problems more effectively than the last three governments have done. And of course, Israel has no shortage of problems.
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Topping the agenda no doubt will be the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the effects that it has had on Israeli society. Indeed, the pandemic has led to a multitude of Israelis losing their jobs and sliding into poverty. Among them are Israel's Arab citizens, many of whom struggle with issues like crime and poverty more than other Israeli citizens, even in the best of times. Hence, the upcoming election would be an opportune time to put the issues that Israeli Arabs face front and center of the election campaign.
Now just to be fair, Israel's Arab citizens live a much better life on average than their fellow Arabs living in predominantly Arab countries. They enjoy a higher standard of living than most of their fellow Arabs. They have rights and privileges that other Arabs can only dream of, including basic human rights like freedom of speech and freedom of religion. So inasmuch as the international community and media like to heap criticism on Israel over the way it treats Arabs, the fact is that Arabs are treated better in a Jewish state than in Arab states.
Nevertheless, the Arab citizens of Israel still deserve better. Although their standard of living is better than that of most people living in Arab states, it is still generally inferior to the living standards of much of Israel's Jewish majority. Arab Israelis have fewer employment prospects and fewer educational opportunities. Poverty rates for Israeli Arab citizens are consistently higher than those of their Jewish counterparts. They are also underrepresented in the country's important institutions. But how can the latest elections contribute to solving these aforementioned problems?
For one thing, Arab Israelis have to start helping themselves. They need to stop voting for politicians like those in the Joint Arab List who constantly attack the very existence of the State of Israel, and even sympathize with those who are trying to destroy it.
Instead, Arab Israelis must vote for leaders who support their continued integration into Israeli society. Many if not most Arab Israelis want to be equal members of Israeli society. They don't want to be members of a community that is separate from the rest of the country. Yet when it comes time to vote, many Arab sraelis opt for electing politicians who encourage Palestinian nationalism rather than integration into the State of Israel.
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At the same time, however, political parties that do support Israeli's continued existence and prosperity must earn the votes of Arab Israelis. And they can start by at least making the impression that they care about Israel's Arab sector. Some of Israel's parties don't even have their websites translated into Arabic. How do these parties expect to earn the trust and the votes of Israeli Arabs if they won't so much as even speak to them in their own language!?
How can the Arab Israelis be expected to stop voting for the subversive Joint Arab List if the Zionist parties don't even pay any attention to them? If those of us who call ourselves Zionists want Israel's more than one million Arab citizens to vote for leaders that accept the State of Israel as a Jewish state and seek the further integration of Israel's Arabs, then we need to show our fellow citizens that we care about the issues important to them.
