For years, Arab members of Knesset have been criticized in the political, media, and public arenas for failing to tend to the needs of their constituencies while mainly representing the Palestinian interest against Israel.
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Now that Arab MKs have fostered a government that benefits the local Arab municipalities, however, the outcry has come primarily from MKs on the right side of the political aisle, who argue the state is being sold out and that the Arab MKs are being paid for coalition stability.
The Ra'am party being in the coalition and another Arab faction in the opposition is proof that Arab MKs are representing their constituencies and that claiming otherwise is mere populism and deception, mainly of the Jewish public.
The outcry in recent weeks over the government's decision to expand the jurisdiction of Arab municipalities wouldn't have been voiced had those same critics been members of the coalition and government, and it's no secret that the Israeli government over the past two decades has viewed closing the gaps between Jews and Arabs in Israel as an important national interest. Whoever needs proof of the need to narrow these gaps should revisit the conclusions of the Or Commission, which investigated the October 2000 riots, or peruse transcripts of discussions held by recent governments or the National Security Council.
When the Arabs are in the opposition and without a hand in the decision-making process, many right-wing members of Knesset claim the Arab MKs don't represent their constituencies, but few know that sans cooperation between Arab MKs and previous Likud-led governments, the entire five-year plan, particularly "Plan 922" that allocated NIS 15 billion to Arab society, wouldn't have passed through the various Knesset committees.
Some of the funds transferred in recent weeks were related to the coalition agreement signed by Ra'am, which is an integral part of the current coalition. Should the Arab MKs take care of their constituencies from the benches of Opposition? The answer rests mainly in the Arabs' desire to integrate, and in the fact that most of the Arab public wants to see its representatives in the Knesset taking part in the decision-making process rather than remaining on the political sidelines – and in the best case serving as the Opposition's opposition.
In the political game there isn't, nor should there be, a difference between the country's citizens.
Incidentally, when we are all going through a difficult and challenging time politically and security-wise, there's a glimmer of hope for integrating Arabs in more than a few areas. We need a different, pragmatic leadership that recognizes reality. And if this leadership doesn't work to improve cooperation, at the very least it should be able to watch what it says and be cautious in its declarations.
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