A volley of gunshots was fired overnight Wednesday at the home of Ynet Arab affairs reporter Hassan Shaalan. Two masked men fired the shots at Shaalan's home in Tayibe and his car both of which were damaged. Neither Shaalan nor his wife and children, who were home at the time of the attack, were wounded.

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The Israel Police have launched an investigation into the shooting and have begun collecting eyewitness reports and physical evidence. A police official told Israel Hayom that all angles were being investigated, including the possibility that Shaalan's home and family had been targeted because of his work covering Arab society in Israel.

Shaalan told police that shortly before the shots were fired, the suspects had asked where his house was, and said that while they were firing they had called him out by his name, and cursed him.

Shaalan told some of his associates that the incident had been "very scary."

"The bullet missed my young son's head by inches. I was never involved in any conflict with anyone I do my work as a journalist and am not afraid to criticize what is happening in terms of crime in Arab society. Some people are trying to shut us up, and that won't happen," he said.

Chairman of the Joint Arab List MK Ayman Odeh wrote that "After a decade of police and government neglect, crime organization are unafraid of consequences, and these are the results – shots fired at journalists and local government representatives, hundreds of civilians dead, and families torn apart."

Yair Tarchitsky, chairman of the Union of Journalists in Israel Yair Tarchitsky issued a statement in response to the incident: "This is a horrifying incident that crosses every red line, and marks another level of violence toward journalists."

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Few Arab politicians in Israel's history have openly flirted with the country's right wing, let alone endorsed its main candidate for prime minister.

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But Ali Salam, the mayor of Nazareth, says that he sees "no better choice" for Israel's 21% Arab minority than veteran conservative Benjamin Netanyahu.

In the build-up to a fourth election in two years, Salam has hosted Netanyahu in Israel's largest Arab city, disparaged protests against him and actively cheered a split in Israel's main Arab coalition, the Joint List.

"Bibi, if you ask me, is the best one to continue for another five years," Salam, 69, told Reuters in Nazareth, the city where Jesus grew up, according to Christian tradition.

For Netanyahu, the embrace of Salam and divisions among hitherto united Arab parties might help divide the opposition and nudge Israel's complex coalition arithmetic a fraction in his direction, ahead of a March 23 election that polls indicate will be a tight race.

The mayor's rhetoric contrasts with other Arab leaders, who have long accused Netanyahu of demonizing Arabs.

But as a city leader with no national political ambitions, Salam says his job is to deliver the best for his 110,000 residents.

And he lambasts the Arab political establishment which, he says, has failed to bring government investment to Arab communities.

"Speaking honestly and clearly: Bibi's tenure has brought the strongest improvement of the economic situation in Arab society, ever," Salam said.

Salam said he planned to vote for the United Arab List, an Islamist party that split away from the Joint List last week after its leader also advocated, unsuccessfully, that it work with Netanyahu.

Joint Arab List MK Ahmad Tibi said Arab leaders embracing Netanyahu were "a joke."

"Maybe it's Stockholm Syndrome, to have empathy with that person who kidnapped you, or oppressed you," Tibi said. He believes that Netanyanu "will not (get) a lot of votes, even if he is smiling and laughing more."

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The debate over whether to work with Netanyahu reflects deep frustration with existing Arab parties, said Asad Ghanem, a professor of political science at the University of Haifa.

"The fact that the head of the biggest Arab town in Israel supports Netanyahu, without being afraid to say it, reflects an Arab society in political crisis without an agenda to solve its challenges, (principally) crime and violence," Ghanem said.

Netanyahu has also tried to woo Arab voters by pledging 100 million shekels ($30.7 million) to combat violence in Arab towns, and promising to include an Arab minister in his next government.

Only 25% of Arabs believe they should cooperate with Netanyahu, according to one poll. But few see a realistic alternative, according to Arik Rudnitzky, of the Israel Democracy Institute.

"Are you ready to cooperate with any government to achieve your needs, or would you like to wait all your life in the opposition?" Rudnitzky said.

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