Israeli Election
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Israeli Arabs reluctantly vote for Barak, lose clout in Knesset.
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GIL SEDAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
• 17 years of experience
Nazareth, Israel
n election day, Paulus Street,
the main street of downtown
Nazareth, looked like down-
town Gaza City or Nablus,
with the national Palestinian flag of
black, white, green and red on top of
many cars.
The flags were a sign that the resi-
dent Arabs were not afraid to show their
Palestinian sentiments in this scenic cap-
ital of the Galilee. Nor were they afraid
to work for a new Arab parry in the
Knesset, Azmi Beshara's National
Democratic Alliance or Balad, which
says it wants to turn Israel into "a state
of all its citizens" and to take away its
definition as a Jewish state. But for all
the bravado in Nazareth, Beshara's party
failed to rally the Arab masses behind
him. Of the 400,000 Israeli Arabs who
went to the polls, only 62,000 voted for
Balad, giving it two Knesset seats — one
for Beshara and the other for his old-
time rival, Dr. Ahmed Tibi, a former
adviser to Palestinian Authority
Chairman Yasser Arafat.
Hadash, the former Communist
Party, earned three Knesset seats.
The big surprise among the Arab
vote was the United Arab List, domi-
nated by Israel's Islamic movement,
which won five Knesset seats. For the
first time in the history of the Jewish
state, an Islamic parry has became a
force in Israeli politics.
The Islamic movement was "simply
better organized than the others," said
As'ad Ghanem, a researcher at a local
Arab think tank. But, he noted, the
Islamic party's gains should be per-
ceived as the Arab equivalent to Shas,
the fervently Orthodox parry that
increased its representation from 10 to
17 seats in the election.
"They have developed a local
brand" of political Islam that aspires
to "integrate into Israeli society and
not work against it," said Ghanem.
The Arab parties and Ehud Barak's
Labor Parry had reached a tacit under-
standing before the election: Labor
would not compete with the Arab par-
ries for the Knesset vote, while the Arab
parties would ensure that their voters
support Barak for prime minister.
The deal seemed to have worked
best in the strongholds of the Islamic
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24 Detroit Jewish News
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movement. Some 94 percent of the -
Arab electorate cast their votes for
Barak, approximately the same rate of
support that Shimon Peres had
enjoyed in 1996 — which was not
enough to defeat Netanyahu.
In contrast, Yitzhak Rabin owed his
1992 victory to the Arab vote and
relied on the support of the Arab par-
ties throughout his tenure. Rabin
drew extensive criticism for having
secured the majority for the Oslo
accords in the Knesset only with the
help of Arab legislators.
This rime, however, Barak would
have won even without Arab support
— and he could form a coalition
without the Arab parties.
"We have missed out," complained
Arab journalist Riad Ali. "We were
important for Barak as long as he
believed he needed us to win the elec-
tions. But now that he had won in the
first round, we once again find our-
selves at the political margins."
In the eyes of some observers, Arab
voters were forced into voting for
Barak. They did not like him. They
did not like the way he projected his
military image during, the campaign.
But they voted for him because they
knew his election was the only way to
topple Netanyahu.
Initial Arab reactions to Barak's elec-
tion, including those of Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak and King
Abdullah of Jordan, have been favorable.
Marwan Barghuti, secretary-general
of the Fatah Parry in the West Bank
said, "Everyone is pleased with the fall
of Netanyahu. His fall renews the
hope that we can once again prepare
ourselves for peace."
Sheik Ahmed Yassin, spiritual
leader of the militant Islamic move-
ment Hamas, suggested for the first
time that he might recognize Israel's
right to exist.
"Let's end this conflict by declaring
a temporary cease-fire," Yassin said.
But he warned that continued terror
attacks would not "depend on
whether Likud or Labor are in power."
But political analysts like Ghanem
said it was unlikely that Hamas would
resume its terrorist attacks. And Knesset
Member Abdul Malek Dahamshe, leader
of the United Arab List, said he's con-
vinced that Hamas has no interest in
immediately resuming terrorist attacks.
"They, too, will wait and see," he said. Ei