Arab Parties Divided Over Unity List

Efforts by Arab Israeli parties to reconstitute their successful Joint List appeared to founder on Monday as two of the potential partners boycotted a press conference to promote unity.

Balad and Ta’al refused to attend the press conference in Nazareth organized by the Hadash and Ra’am parties, whom they believe are out to snatch the higher spots on the electoral list for September, according to Haaretz.

The most successful run for Knesset for Arab parties was in 2015, when the Joint List captured 10.5 percent of the total votes cast, worth an unprecedented 13 seats in the Knesset.

The split into two separate lists ahead of the April 2019 elections resulted in a disappointing performance—an overall loss of about a quarter of their previous support. That led to calls for reunification.