Guard high, Ayman Odeh is careful. This young deputy of the Arab minority in Israel, 45, with the usual verb of battle, weighs his words. "We are walking on a tightrope", he apologizes, mimicking a balanced tightrope walker, from the bottom of his plastic chair, at a restaurant near Kfar Qasim (center). At the head of a list that unites the country's Arab parties, Mr. Odeh obtained a historic score in the legislative elections on March 2. They are 15 deputies to enter the Parliament (on 120 seats in total): the third political force of the country. In this restaurant nestled between a hypermarket and a petrol station, Tuesday, March 10, Mr. Odeh was speaking with an elected representative of an Islamist faction, Mansour Abbas. It’s about staying united as we take a new step.
For the first time, these men, descendants of Palestinians who remained on their lands after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, come out of isolation where all the Israeli parties, right and left, are relegated. Their community represents 20% of the population. Mr. Odeh embodies his gentrified, pragmatic part: that which, like his wife, a doctor, runs hospitals across the country. Their voices count. They can help end the mandate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On Wednesday, their representatives began to negotiate with the Blue White formation of General Benny Gantz (center right, 33 seats). Thursday evening, Mr. Gantz went as far as to say that the coming government should include " all parties " of the Knesset, that is to say the Arab list.
Rare constancy
The general is counting on their support for Parliament, without which he has no majority. Can he really offer them a ministry? Arab MPs would be hard pressed to accept it. "It's simple: we are negotiating to get rid of Mr. Netanyahu and his far-right alliance and settlers", affirmed Tuesday Mr. Odeh.
This position of kingmakers, precarious, incites the right to fight the Arab deputies with an incredible violence. Prime Minister reminded Gantz Thursday evening "There is no room for supporters of terrorism" in the union government that he proposes to him Under the leadership of Netanyahu, this government would be tasked with an urgent response to the coronavirus epidemic. Her offer is hard to refuse: it resonates in public opinion.
