Joint List chief: No backing for next gov’t without progress toward Palestinian state

(Oct. 14, 2026 / JNS)

Yousef Jabareen, chairman of the Arab Joint List, said on Tuesday that progress toward a Palestinian state is the most important of four demands his party will put to anyone seeking its support after the Oct. 27 election.

Jabareen told Radio 103FM in an interview that the Joint List would not recommend a candidate for prime minister or back the next government without negotiations over those demands.

The Arab leader said anyone seeking to replace “Netanyahu’s government of wars and bloodshed” must “also offer a diplomatic horizon toward recognizing the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and open negotiations.”

“I’m not naive enough to say that a Palestinian state will be established the day after the elections,” Jabareen added.

The Joint List’s other demands are a plan to combat crime in the Arab sector, the development of Arab communities, and welfare and education programs for Arab youth.

“There is no automatic support. We are not offering a blank check to anyone, and certainly not to the opposition leadership,” Jabareen said.

He also rejected any “coercion” regarding national service for Arab citizens.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party shared Jabareen’s remarks on its Telegram channel, adding: “It’s either the right, or Palestine.”

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Tuesday called Arab lawmakers who support Palestinian statehood a “fifth column,” saying they do not belong in the Knesset.

“My position is clear: dismantle the Palestinian Authority, strengthen the settlements, apply sovereignty and promote voluntary emigration from Gaza and from Judea and Samaria,” Ben-Gvir said. He added that he would advance those policies should he become Israel’s next defense minister.

On Saturday, Jabareen said that the alliance of Arab parties is prepared to provide parliamentary support to a government replacing Netanyahu, even without joining the coalition.

The announcement comes ahead of Israel’s Oct. 27 election.

Jabareen argued that no “alternative government,” that is one not led by Netanyahu, could be formed without negotiating with the Joint List.

Naftali Bennett (B’Yahad) and Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beiteinu) have issued statements rejecting the formation of a government dependent on Arab parties, while Gadi Eisenkot (Yashar) has set conditions for parties that want to join his coalition.

Netanyahu in response took to X to say that Jabareen “confesses” that his bloc will form a government with Eisenkot.

“Eisenkot has no government without the Arab parties, [The Democrats Party chairman] Yair Golan, Liberman and Bennett,” Netanyahu wrote in Hebrew.