I’M NORMALLY NOT A “Pollyanna,” but nether am I “Chicken Little” proclaiming “The sky is falling.”
Israelis who immigrated from Muslim-dominated countries are aghast that the Arab list, or at least some of it, might be included in an Israeli “unity” government.
“UNITY” AND “ISRAELI GOVERNMENT” USUALLY IS AN OXYMORON.
Typically, the best that can be achieved is a truce among suspicious coalition partners.
As this is keyed, ex-IDF general Benny Gantz has a very slim lead over the man who would be kind for life, Bibi Netanyahu. Israel’s supposedly non-political president will decide which of the two men will be asked to lead the country as prime minister until the next elections.
Despite Gantz’ lead, if Netanyahu can prove to the president that he can line up enough votes from other parties, of which there are many, the president probably will ask Netanyahu to try to form the next government.
Likewise, if Gantz can get the support he needs to form a coalition government, the president will be more or less obliged to offer him an opportunity to form Israel’s next government.
Unless, of course, the Israeli Supreme Court decides to intervene — or interfere, take your choice.
The Sefardim and Mizrahim have reason to be suspicious of Arab (read Muslim) candidates. They know the Arabs from the counties they left — some in the dark of night to escape abuse from their Muslim neighbors.
On the other hand — and there always is “an other hand” — many polls have indicated that many (most?) Israeli Arabs prefer Israel to life anywhere else.
Granted, there are a few Arabs who take every chance to destroy Israel — from the Knesset no less — but I suspect — I hope — that any Arab Members of Knesset (MKs) will consider the alternatives before doing anything detrimental to the state.
Could an Arab MK be any worse than a far left Jewish MK?
I would prefer an Arab MK who wants to improve his (or her) people’s condition to a leftist MK who wants to destroy Israel from the inside.
I am convinced that not all Arabs as stupid as former MK Hanin Zoabi who, educated in Israeli schools to an MA in Communications and Media at Hebrew U, continually bit the hand that fed her.
According to YNet News1 Many members of the Israeli-Arab community have expressed their disgust of MK Hanin Zoabi (Joint Arab List) after she called the soldiers who took over the Mavi Marmara "murderers" during a Knesset plenum. While she was not the only Arab MK, she was the loudest and most vitriolic in her attacks on Israel.
When I was on my way to Israel for the first time I sat next to a retired social worker.
The woman told me there was one word I needed to know (and practice) in Israel. The word:
סבלנות
PATIENCE.
(I already knew “gledah.”)
IF Arab parties form part of a center-left coalition, I hope that the Arab MKs will work FOR the betterment of their fellow Arabs — Muslim and non-Muslim alike — and not for the destruction of the state.
These are people who live in Israel by choice. They could go to Gaza. They could go to PLO-areas. They could go to Jordan or Syria or Egypt or any other Muslim-dominated country.
But they elected to live in Israel. They elected to participate in Israel’s political life.
They know what life is like in a neighboring Muslim-dominated country. They know the benefits of life in the only democracy in the Middle East.
I hope that they will not follow the antics of the stupid, now former, MK from the Arab List.
How they participate in the Knesset, the laws they sponsor, and their general demeanor can go a long way to making life in Israel easier, or harder, for their fellow Arabs.
Sources
1. Hanin Zoabi http://tinyurl.com/y2mfme3n
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