Israel's 2019 General Elections: Arab Political Participatio...

Israel's Arab parties and political participation have been prominent topics in the 2019 election cycle. While the legitimacy of Arab Knesset representation has been questioned in campaign discourse in the past, this year it has been described as a 'wedge issue,' leading top political candidates to express publicly that they will not partner with Arab parties. With heated public exchanges in Jewish society about the implications for Israeli democracy, the concerns in Arab society have been further disillusionment following the Nation-State Law and break-up of the Joint List, and the possibility of low voter turnout.

Read the Task Force Brief: Arab Parties Finalize Lists, Anti-Arab Discourse in Campaigns

Why has the idea of Jewish political partnership with Arab parties become a divisive wedge? How has this discourse affected Arab aspirations for political representation and partnership? What are the related concerns for Israeli democracy?

Join us to discuss these questions and more on a conference call briefing on Monday, April 15 at 12pm ET with Prof. Mordechai Kremnizer, Senior Fellow at the Israeli Democracy Institute, and Dr. Thabet Abu Rass, Co-Executive Director of the Abraham Initiatives.

Conference Call Details: 
Monday, April 15, 2019 - 12 pm ET
Dial-in information provided upon RSVP

Please RSVP and send topical questions to [email protected]

About the Speakers

Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer
Professor Kremnitzer is a professor emeritus of the Faculty of law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, former dean of the Faculty of Law, and director of the Israeli Press Council. He served on several government committees, including the Committee to Examine the Use of Force by the Police, the Committee on Civic Education in Israel, the Committee on Discipline in the Civil Service, the Committee on Conviction on the Basis of Confession and Retrial, and the Public Committee to Examine Penal Policy and the Treatment of Prisoners. Kremnitzer led the 2007 Israel Ministry of Justice team to examine the Homicide Offenses Law.

Dr. Thabet Abu Rass
Dr. Thabet Abu Rass, Co-Executive Director of The Abraham Initiatives, is a political geographer and a lecturer at Sapir College. Previously, he served as Negev branch director of Adallah - the Legal Center for the Rights of the Arab Minority in Israel. In that capacity he dealt with advancing the rights of the Arab-Bedouins of the Negev. Over the past few years, Abu Rass has also served as Co-Chairman of the board of Hand in Hand, an NGO for Jewish-Arab education in Israel. In his previous positions Abu Rass was Director of Shatil's Negev Branch and Director of the "Abu Basma Project," a joint project by the New Israel Fund and JDC-Israel for the advancement of the newly recognized Bedouin villages in the Negev.