Next Israeli government must include an Arab party, especially after October 7 - opinion

Israel's upcoming election, the first since the October 7 Hamas attacks, is poised to reveal significant insights into the Jewish state's future direction. As election season commences, recent polls indicate several plausible scenarios, including a potential political stalemate or a narrow opposition victory. Crucially, the opposition's path to power may hinge on securing support from an Arab party, with Mansour Abbas's Ra'am party emerging as a central figure in political discussions.

While polls suggest Ra'am's projected seats could be decisive, many leading opposition figures have publicly ruled out partnering with an Arab party following the October 7 massacre. Yair Golan stands as an exception, being the only leader of a Zionist party to explicitly endorse including Ra'am in a future coalition. This hesitation is understandable, given the deep trauma and strained trust between Jewish and Arab citizens in the aftermath of the attack, which killed approximately 1,200 people.

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Hamas’s attack, which killed approximately 1,200 people, deeply traumatized Israeli society and strained trust between Jewish and Arab citizens, even though Israel’s Arab citizens were not responsible for the massacre and many were themselves victims of Hamas’s violence.

Many Israeli Jews harbor wariness towards political partnerships that might appear to downplay the threats Israel faces. However, the author argues that including an Arab party in the first government formed after October 7 would transcend mere coalition arithmetic. It would serve as a potent declaration of the kind of society Israel aspires to become after enduring one of its darkest chapters.

Drawing on social psychology, the article posits that intergroup relations can improve through meaningful contact, particularly when supported by political and institutional authorities. Gordon Allport's Contact Hypothesis and later expansions by scholars like Thomas Pettigrew emphasize that authority support helps establish new social norms, signaling that cooperation with other communities is legitimate and desirable. Excluding Arab parties from governing coalitions could reinforce perceptions of their illegitimacy in Israel's political future, while inclusion would send a contrasting message of partnership and shared governance.

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Including an Arab party in the first government formed after October 7 would not simply be a matter of coalition arithmetic; it would also be a powerful statement about what kind of society Israel wants to become after one of its darkest chapters.