The Joint List, an alliance of predominantly Palestinian parties contesting Israel's 27 October Knesset elections, has made removing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies from power its main priority.
But while the alliance is prepared to help bring about a change of government, it insists that any support for an alternative to Netanyahu must come with clear conditions and must not compromise its political principles.
The Joint List brings together the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash), the National Democratic Assembly (Balad) and the Arab Movement for Change (Ta'al).
The alliance has signalled that it is willing to use its parliamentary influence to help oust Netanyahu, potentially by providing outside support to an alternative government.
However, it has ruled out backing a government that expands illegal settlements, wages war or allows attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque and other religious sites.
It also says it will not support a government that continues Israel's attacks in the occupied West Bank, its genocide in Gaza or violations against Palestinians in Jerusalem and inside Israel.
The Joint List's willingness to support a new government will depend on whether opposition parties agree to a minimum set of political demands.
These include tackling racism, addressing the violence and organised crime affecting Palestinian communities in Israel, advancing equality for Palestinian citizens and reopening dialogue with the Palestinian leadership.
Its approach differs from that of the United Arab List (Ra'am), led by Mansour Abbas, which is competing for the Palestinian vote.
While the Joint List favours supporting a government from outside parliament's governing coalition, Ra'am has expressed its willingness to directly join government, arguing that participation would give it greater influence over policy and help secure funding and services for Palestinian communities.
Despite their differences, both alliances face growing hostility and incitement from Israeli right-wing groups, raising concerns about possible intimidation and violence against Palestinian voters on election day.
Opinion polls suggest the two lists could win a combined 13 to 15 seats, potentially giving Palestinian voters a decisive role in determining the next government.
Much will depend on turnout among the more than one million eligible Palestinian voters in Israel, as well as the performance of other parties and whether they pass the electoral threshold.
Against this backdrop, The New Arab spoke to Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh, whose candidacy was previously disqualified by Israel's Supreme Court, about the election, the challenges facing Palestinian citizens of Israel and the Joint List's priorities in a possible post-Netanyahu political landscape.
Below is an edited version of the interview:
Q. You have been travelling extensively through Arab towns and villages. What is the mood like ahead of the election?
Abu Shehadeh: We are just one week away from election day, and it is a decisive moment. We are out every day meeting people in our towns and villages. In nearly 30 years of political work, I have never seen Palestinian citizens of Israel, both men and women, so ready to go out and vote. Our aim is to achieve a turnout of more than 70%, a level we have not seen in years. But reaching that target will require even more work.
Q. You are aiming to win 10 seats, but opinion polls put you at eight or nine. Is your target realistic?
Abu Shehadeh: Week after week, the polls have shown turnout projections rising. And every day, as we travel through our communities, we see strong support for the Joint List.
We are now entering the final week, which is both the most important and the most difficult. The Israeli far right exists in both political camps, Netanyahu's bloc and the bloc opposing him.
I believe the more they recognise the strength and political influence of Palestinians in Israel, the more the incitement against us will intensify. We are also concerned that this could escalate into violence. There is no precedent in human history for a far-right fascist government like the one currently ruling Israel losing an election and accepting the result. We are facing a critical week, with extremely sensitive and difficult issues at stake.
Q. Are you concerned that Arab voters could face restrictions at polling stations, including extremist monitors attempting to prevent them from voting?
Abu Shehadeh: Ultimately, elections come down to numbers. The attacks on Palestinians in Israel and attempts to suppress turnout are driven by electoral calculations. Israel's Jewish majority is split into two almost equally matched political camps. The Knesset has 120 seats, and opinion polls put each camp at around 50 seats, give or take a few. That means Arab voters will decide this election.
This explains the attempts to target and disqualify the Joint List, the United Arab List, Hadash candidate and Knesset member Ofer Cassif, and Balad. My own candidacy was effectively disqualified, and we are now hearing about further measures aimed at reducing turnout among Arab voters. We have also seen growing incitement and physical attacks against male and female students, as well as bus drivers. This is not a simple battle. Israeli Jewish society is deeply racist, and it now faces a major challenge: the majority cannot decide the election on its own. The votes of the Arab minority will determine the outcome.
In a normal country, there would be nothing unusual about that. But because of racism in Israel, the prospect is seen as a serious threat. That is why we are so concerned about what could happen in the coming days.
Q. How do you intend to use this potentially decisive influence?
Abu Shehadeh: Our community makes up around 20% of Israel's population, and we have the power to decide this election. That is exactly what we intend to do. Our first priority is to prevent the government responsible for genocide from returning to power. We will do everything we can to achieve that.
Q. You have also criticised the opposition bloc that could replace Netanyahu, saying you do not trust it. Isn't that a contradiction?
Abu Shehadeh: There is no contradiction. The political reality in Israel is extremely difficult. There is no peace camp, no political bloc committed to ending the occupation, and no camp seeking to build a democratic state based on justice and equality.
The choices are bad. For the Joint List and Arab society, the choice is between bad and worse. That is not an easy position to be in. We say this openly and explain it to people. Our community is educated and politically aware. People understand the situation for themselves.
In this existential struggle, our first priority is to stop the bloodshed, ease people's suffering and preserve the hope that change will one day be possible. Netanyahu and his ministers, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, have made it clear that they want to continue the genocide in Gaza and "resolve" the situation in the West Bank, by which they mean ethnic cleansing. They also want to deal with Palestinian citizens of Israel, who are already facing political persecution and restrictions.The situation is extremely dangerous.
At times like these, political leaders must act wisely and responsibly and make difficult decisions. We are not pretending that there is a good option. We wish there were, but there isn't. We say that with great pain. We would have welcomed a genuine partner among Israel's Zionist parties, one that wanted to end the war and work towards peace.
Q. But wouldn't providing a "safety net" for an alternative government come at a political cost?
Abu Shehadeh: There has been a misunderstanding about what we mean by a safety net. I was the first to propose the idea. The safety net we are talking about is for our people and our communities. It is intended to protect them from the racist policies targeting Palestinians and the Palestinian cause.
We have never used the term in the Israeli political sense of providing a safety net for one Zionist politician or another. We proposed it as a way of protecting our community, because our people need security.
Our people are suffering everywhere: in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem and inside Israel. One of the most urgent problems facing Palestinian citizens of Israel is organised crime. Our communities need security. That is why we formed the Joint List, bringing three parties together to create a political force capable of protecting our people. That is what we mean by a safety net, not the way the term is understood in Israeli politics.
Q. But wouldn't such a safety net also benefit the political bloc opposed to Netanyahu?
Abu Shehadeh: First, there is no single possible outcome to this election. We are facing a situation in which Israel's Jewish majority is divided into two political camps of almost equal strength. Some Zionist parties are hovering around the electoral threshold, and whether they make it into the Knesset could have a major impact on the results.
There are several possible scenarios—Netanyahu could refuse to accept the election results. A national unity government could emerge. Or all the right-wing and far-right parties could pass the electoral threshold, allowing Netanyahu to return to power. There are other possibilities too. We cannot know the outcome in advance.
Once the results are announced, we will sit down, examine them carefully, consider what they mean for our people and our cause, discuss the options and then decide how to proceed.
Q. What is your message to Arab voters ahead of the election?
Abu Shehadeh: We have developed a political programme with the help of dozens of professionals, specialists and political leaders. It addresses the most urgent demands of our people, and by that I mean the entire Palestinian people.
We see the Joint List as a source of security for our people in what is the most important election we have faced since the Nakba. Our list brings together an exceptional group of candidates with expertise in different fields, setting us apart from competing lists in both Arab and Jewish politics. They have the energy, experience and knowledge needed to represent people's concerns and confront the major challenges ahead.
What I have been telling people in recent days is that the time has come to reap what we have sown. We must turn out in large numbers and bring down this government after four years of oppression, persecution, genocide, ethnic cleansing, home demolitions, rampant crime and suffering on every front. We have an opportunity to bring about change.
The Joint List has a political programme that is different from both Netanyahu's camp and the bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot. We want to end the war and work towards peace and a political solution between the two peoples, based on justice, equality, freedom and human rights. Our community wants change. It wants to stop Netanyahu and his gang from returning to power.
The decision is in our hands. That is why we need a strong Joint List, and why we must push turnout above 70%. With enough determination, we can achieve that.
As for what happens after the election, we will deal with those scenarios when the time comes.
This interview was originally published by The New Arab's Arabic language edition, and has been translated into English. Click here to read the original Arabic version.