The period of coalition negotiations prior to the formation of a new government constitutes a golden opportunity for a change in the position of Israel's Arab citizens - for their sake, and the sake of the state. Incorporating them into coalition talks, with sincere and earnest intentions in mind, could serve to bring about a true, perhaps historic, change in relations between Jews and Arabs here, and in the attitude of the Arabs toward the state - with ramifications for relations between Israel and its neighbors.
As things stand today, the notion of incorporating the Arab parties into the coalition and government - any government, even one headed by Amir Peretz - is a far cry from being perceived as a practical option. There is reticence on both sides. The large parties don't even take such an option into account - some due to dogmatic thinking, and some in light of tactical considerations such as concern over being depicted by the right wing as establishing a government that rests on the votes of the Arabs, or due to so-called "security considerations."
Prime Minister-designate Ehud Olmert expressed this in a well-known and traditional manner when he said: "There is room in my coalition for all of the Zionist parties."
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The Arab parties suffer from the same pattern of thought. They don't consider the option of being partners in the coalition - and not just because of their collective call not to vote for the Zionist parties.
Some have concerns about being part of the government of the occupation and targeted killings; and some believe that serving in the government would undermine their intentions to intensify the alienation between the Arab citizens and the state.
But Israel's Arabs, according to all of the studies conducted in recent years, do, in fact, want to be integrated into the state. Some 96 percent of the residents of Umm al-Fahm said they were not willing to move to a future Palestinian state; and the vast majority of Arabs in the Triangle region vehemently opposed Avigdor Lieberman's territorial-exchange plan, which includes Arab communities, and unequivocally declared their allegiance to the State of Israel. Israel's Arabs, all of whom support a two-people-two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, have tied their destiny to that of the state, and will not want to live in another country. For Israel to pay them in kind would be a hopeful sign of the possibility of coexisting in a full partnership.
What can be done under the current circumstances? In 1992, there were just two Arab parties in the Knesset - Hadash, headed by Tawfik Zayyad, and the Arab Democratic Party, headed by Abdulwahab Darawshe - and their full cooperation with then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin led to the formation of a parliamentary bloc that prevented the right wing from toppling the government. Zayyad and Darawshe signed a deal with Labor that was, for all intents and purposes, a coalition agreement. The partnership was a success. The standing of Israel's Arabs was significantly boosted, and they began to see themselves as a part of the state; Rabin was enthusiastically received by Arab communities; and the government upheld the majority of its commitments.
Zayyad, himself, repeatedly said in interviews that the time had come to be partners - a statement that not one Arab leader in Israel today dares to repeat. Zayyad and Darawshe, who had very close ties with Yasser Arafat, knew that through this partnership, they were serving not only their voting public, but also peace, and therefore the interests of both peoples.
The Rabin government also understood that beyond the fact that it portrayed Israel as an enlightened state, the partnership with Israel's Arabs would also boost the Arabs' sense of concern and drastically alter their attitude toward the state. Therefore, it kicked off a serious plan to close the gaps between the Arab and Jewish sectors.
With a sincere desire on both sides, this same format can be revisited today, and even be deepened, by means of an agreement, prior to the coalition talks, among the Arab parties and Labor and Meretz, or between the Arab parties and Kadima, with the negotiations intended to yield a partnership deal. The very publication of such an agreement would spark a huge wave of public support and take us back to the days of Zayyad.
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Israeli Arabs and the Rabin-Zayyad legacy
