The Islamic United Arab List (Ra’am – which split from the Joint List in the previous election cycle – celebrated the primary results, claiming that “there is nothing new in Hadash.”
The results of the primaries held in the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) mark the beginning of the end for the current leadership of the party for the Knesset. Hadash, an alliance of various Palestinian Arab left-wing parties in Israel – with the joint Jewish-Palestinian Israeli Communist Party at its core – is the largest and oldest Palestinian party in Israel. The first three spots for the party list did not change, with current MKs Ayman Odeh (leader of Hadash and the Joint List – a coalition of 3 Palestinian parties), Aida Touma-Sliman, and Ofer Cassif, respectively, all being reelected.
The Islamic United Arab List (Ra’am) – which split from the Joint List in the previous election cycle – celebrated the results, claiming that “there is nothing new in Hadash.” For now, it seems that the Joint List will not see a change of faces.
However, everyone – both party members and insiders, as well as observers from the outside – know that this will be the last electoral battle in which these three leaders will compete.
Party leader Ayman Odeh was contested by a relatively obscure candidate, Wiam Shbeita, who, despite having virtually no name recognition, succeeded in obtaining nearly a quarter of the vote. The constitution of Hadash specifies that after eight years of parliamentary work, a candidate must receive two-thirds of the primary vote from the Hadash Council (comprised of Regional Secretaries, Heads, and Members of Local Councils, the party’s youth wing leadership) in order to compete for the first seat of the party’s elections list.
The fact that a relatively unknown candidate receives a quarter of the vote will prompt other leading candidates to contest MK Odeh in the upcoming elections. Today, he understands that it will be difficult to secure two-thirds of the vote to maintain his position in the leadership of Hadash for an additional period.
The wavering support for the current party leadership is also reflected in the electoral contest for the second spot in the list, currently held by MK Aida Touma-Sliman. Touma-Sliman was up against two other candidates.
Shadi Shweiri, Head of the Kafr Yasif Local Council, proved to be a surprising threat to Touma-Sliman by managing to force a second round of voting after neither candidate received over 50% of the vote, with Shweiri and Touma-Sliman receiving 42% and 48% of the vote, respectively. Touma-Sliman went on to win in the second round. For Touma-Suleiman, the primaries presented a fierce struggle against two men – Odeh and Shweiri, which she successfully passed in the end. Shweiri will now return to his local council after making himself a new set of political opponents in his own town.
Unlike Odeh and Sliman, MK Ofer Cassif won easily with broad support from the Communist Party. Cassif is not considered part of Ayman Odeh’s camp within the party.
The surprising candidate came from the Negev – where most of the Palestinian Bedouin community lives. The victory of Youssef al-Atawna in the race for the fourth slot is a failure for Odeh, who sought throughout the past month to recruit businessman Ibrahim al-Nasasra to the Joint List.
The election of Al-Atawna increased tension with the Islamic United Arab List (UAL), as it began filling social media networks with publications claiming that the fourth seat in Hadash is not guaranteed in the Joint List – Hadash’s seats are spread out in the overall rankings for the Joint List with the other two parties that are part of the coalition, Balad and Ta’al. The UAL also fielded candidates from the Negev on its party list for the upcoming elections in an effort to preserve its strength and support from Bedouin voters,
After Hadash selects its candidates, negotiations will begin in the Joint List between Hadash, Balad, and Ta’al. These negotiations may explode and cause great disappointment to the voters, as tensions over the division of seats may boil over.
Currently, opinion polls and in-depth research indicate a low voter turnout in the Palestinian Arab community. If the voter turnout ranges around 40%, as in the previous elections, there will be a further decline in the representation of the Palestinian Arab community in the Knesset. The dismantling of the Joint List caused a drop from 15 seats to 10 seats in total for Palestinian Parties in the previous elections (the Joint List received 6 seats while UAL received 4). The Joint List was blamed for this failure and is now preparing for the elections with a list that is very similar.