In advance of the September 17 election day many Arab activists and Jewish and Arab shared society organizations launched campaigns and coordinated efforts to promote voting as an important exercise in democracy, and for Arab citizens to realize the opportunity to be a decisive factor in these elections—regardless of who they voted for.
Writer and journalist Odeh Bisharat urged Arab voters to “Vote…and Oust Bibi,” activists stated that Arabs should vote and then, “if the Joint List leaders fail – we will replace them” (Hebrew), and hip-hop artist Tamer Nafar wrote in Haaretz that he and his wife intend to vote for the Joint List, despite what he perceives as its imperfections. There were also voices in Arab society urging votes for Jewish-led parties as a better way to exert influence and attain civil equality than supporting the Joint List.
Some in Jewish society who wish to see a center-left government also reached out to Arab citizens, convinced that their vote would be key to forming an alternative to a right-wing coalition. Writer Ilan Scheinfeld issued a public letter to Arab citizens urging them to effect change by voting. “I ask you from the bottom of my heart – don’t stay home and don’t worry about cameras at the polling station. Come en masse to vote for a better life together for all of us.” Amira Haas issued a written “plea to my Palestinian friends” to “Please vote, and vote for the Joint List.”
These efforts intensified leading up to and during election day, with grassroots efforts coordinating thousands of people to reach the polls. A summary of major civil society and grassroots efforts follows:
Election Day Efforts
- The “Democratic Block,” an organization monitoring “anti-democratic tendencies in Israel,” identified 130 fake Facebook profiles that it claims were used to encourage Arab citizens to boycott the elections. As a result, Facebook removed more than 82 fake accounts advocating an Arab election boycott.
- Grassroots Organizing Drove Negev Bedouin to the Polls: The organization Zazim conducted a fundraising campaign to hire buses and taxis to transport Negev Bedouin living in unrecognized villages to the polls. Bedouin communities in the south often lack access to public transportation and are far from voting stations. Following a Likud petition to stop this activity, the Central Election Committee decided two days before the election that Zazim’s activity could not continue, ruling that it was politically motivated and beyond the scope of the organization’s work. Hours after that decision, hundreds of volunteers organized through social media and arranged to meet with their cars early on Election Day in the Negev to drive Bedouin, especially women, to their voting stations. There were estimates that combined with the work of local Arab volunteer organizations, and Bedouin owners of transport companies who donated dozens of buses, this grassroots effort enabled 7,000 Bedouin to cast their votes (Hebrew). Election results show that the voting rate in Negev Bedouin localities rose from approximately 37% in April to above 50%.
- Media and Social Media: Numerous other Jewish-Arab organizations and activists in the field of shared society wrote articles and called on social media for Arab citizens to vote, some changing their Facebook profile to the hashtag #I_am_a_partner (in Hebrew _
Civil Society Get-out-the-vote Campaigns
- 17/9: A new coalition of 11 groups active in Arab civil society, called “17/9” deployed hundreds of volunteers around the country who used canvassing, social media and billboards to urge Arab citizens that they “don’t have the privilege to stay home.” The coalition aimed to convince citizens that they can help shape events if they participate. A host of public figures, among them leading women activists, also joined the campaign, appearing on election posters that stated: “Voting for the Knesset is both a right and an obligation.”
- Bokra.net: Arab news portal Bokra.net, operating out of Nazareth, also ran a campaign encouraging Arab citizens to vote by providing data and links about the elections on its homepage, as well as by producing a special video where leading Arab women encouraged other Arab women to vote.
- Grassroots Organizing Drove Negev Bedouin to the Polls: The organization Zazim conducted a fundraising campaign to hire buses and taxis to transport Negev Bedouin living in unrecognized villages to the polls. Bedouin communities in the south often lack access to public transportation and are far from voting stations. Following a Likud petition to stop this activity, the Central Election Committee decided two days before the election that Zazim’s activity could not continue, ruling that it was politically motivated and beyond the scope of the organization’s work. Hours after that decision, hundreds of volunteers organized through social media and arranged to meet with their cars early on Election Day in the Negev to drive Bedouin, especially women, to their voting stations. There were estimates that combined with the work of local Arab volunteer organizations, and Bedouin owners of transport companies who donated dozens of buses, this grassroots effort enabled 7,000 Bedouin to cast their votes (Hebrew). Election results show that the voting rate in Negev Bedouin localities rose from approximately 37% in April to above 50%.
- Standing Together: Standing Together had an online petition to increase government funding for Arabic-language resources that encourage voter participation. The organization contended that only 7% of the Central Elections Commission budget for voter outreach for the April elections was used for Arabic materials and demanded that it be increased to 20% for this election, commensurate with the Arab population of Israel.
- Sikkuy: Sikkuy ran a special campaign that aimed to counter claims against the Arab MKs that they do not work for Arab society but rather are only interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This perception has become prevalent among the Arab public following years of such accusations by Jewish politicians and media (Hebrew), but according to Sikkuy’s data, it is a false accusation as over 97% of the bills promoted in recent years by Arab MKs centered on the daily lives of Arab citizens of Israel.
- The Abraham Initiatives: The Abraham Initiatives, an organization deeply involved in promoting political participation in Arab society, ran a campaign that pressured Jewish-led parties to “engage with Arab voters,” under the slogan “No more excuses,” citing the results of their numerous surveys that show Arab citizens are interested in political partnership.