Tel-Chai Nation

The Times of Israel reported on a most recent polling of what Arab Israelis think of the coming election. It appears that again, many won't be voting as they don't see any point, but, here's where the results become most interesting:

The Labor party and the Democratic Camp – a political alliance comprising former prime minister Ehud Barak’s Israel Democratic Party, Meretz, and breakaway Labor MK Stav Shaffir – are together projected to secure under 1% of Arabs’ votes.

[...] But perhaps the biggest surprise in the Rudnitzky-Barak poll was the fact that 23.6% of respondents said they believed Netanyahu was best suited for the role of premier – a surprising show of support given Netanyahu’s video plea during the 2015 elections urging his supporters to vote so as to offset the “droves of Arabs” ostensibly rushing to the polling stations.

Only 9.9% of Arab Israelis said they believed Joint List leader Ayman Odeh should be the prime minister; and 9.6% named Blue and White leader Benny Gantz as the best candidate for the job; followed by Barak (7.7%), Liberman (7.5%), and Yamina leader Ayelet Shaked (7%).

Now isn't that also flattering that a certain number also think Shaked's ideal for a premier candidate. What this shows is that, whatever their opinions on Israel as a country, they do realize Netanyahu is far better for their future than the hopeless candidates on the left, and as noted earlier, the Meretz alliance with Ehud Barak has cost them a Druze candidate who was running on their list, because he was offended by their partnering with a man who alienated many Arabic residents around the turn of the century.

Netanyahu has provided positive economic policies, for example, and that's a good reason to recommend him. So it's certainly amazing the Arabic community in Israel sees him as a worthy politician.

Labels: Israel, Israeli Arabs, Knesset