Archiv: Balad / member of first and renewed Joint List


26.05.2026 - 12:26 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Joint List Factions Ready to Form Alliance of Independent Parties Ahead of Elections.

According to Jabareen, “The dissolution of the Joint List in 2021 was a severe mistake that cost the Arab public political power and influence. Today, everyone understands this.” He added that despite ideological gaps with Ra’am, “The price of running separately will be unbearable—a drop in voter turnout and the continuation of the far-right rule.” He also emphasized that intensive talks are underway to reach agreements: “We are doing everything we can to bring hope back to our public.”

Representatives from Hadash and two Arab partiers, Balad, and Ta’al held a joint meeting last night to accelerate the reunification of the Joint List and remove obstacles toward an agreement. The three parties emphasized their consensus on core political issues and highlighted the importance of ongoing political and parliamentary coordination after the elections.

In a joint statement, the parties declared: “We would like Ra’am to be a partner in the political agreement, but we are aware of the significant gaps between our positions regarding the character and path of the Joint List. Nevertheless, recognizing the importance of unity against existential threats, the parties expressed willingness to reach an agreement with Ra’am based on a ‘technical joint list’ for the elections, aiming to raise voter turnout, strengthen Arab representation, and topple the far-right government.”

10.05.2026 - 08:15 [ MSN.com ]

Arab parties meeting to discuss reuniting into Joint List bloc

Last month, the Hadash party announced that it would promote direct dialogue with other Arab parties to explore the revival of the Joint List, which at its peak in 2015 and 2020 became the third-largest bloc in the Knesset and briefly held kingmaker influence.

The Hadash source said that several discussions have since taken place but that Monday’s was the first to be publicized, signaling “momentum.”

The bloc split due to internal fighting in 2021 when Mansour Abbas’s Islamist United Arab List (Ra’am) broke away and it collapsed the following year ahead of the 2022 election.

06.05.2026 - 21:57 [ Qoshe.com ]

Arab parties clash over delayed Joint List agreement, but deny breakdown in talks

(April 5, 2026)

While acknowledging that there was a “heated meeting,” the source added that “such disagreements are natural” and said that another meeting will take place in the coming weeks.

28.04.2026 - 06:46 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

MK Cassif: “Right has found its right-hand man”

When asked if a government could be formed “without the support of MKs Ahmad Tibi or Aida Touma-Sliman” from the Hadash-Ta’al faction, Bennett replied: “We have a large majority even without them.” This statement comes despite a series of recent polls indicating that the Zionist parties opposing Netanyahu are unlikely to secure a majority without the support of Hadash and the Arab parties. (…)

Following the unification, Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the new “Yashar” party, called this morning for a meeting of opposition leaders excluding Hadash and Islamist Ra’am, “in order to ensure victory through Zionist and statesmanlike votes without Arabs.” In his announcement, Eisenkot mentioned the leaders of the “Together” list, Bennett and Lapid, as well as Yisrael Beiteinu chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman and The Democrats leader Yair Golan.

21.04.2026 - 17:51 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Hadash Announces Primary Elections and Push for Joint List Consolidation

During the session, political leaders, including the Communist Party of Israel Secretary-General Adel Amer and Hadash Secretary Amjad Shbita, addressed the regional political situation. Discussions centered on the fragile ceasefire, the risk of renewed war on Iran and Lebanon, and the concerning rise of internal fascism and ongoing occupation of Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian territories.

“The establishment of the Joint List is not merely a tactical maneuver,” Hadash stated in an official communique. “It is a fundamental mission to shift the political balance of power and intensify the struggle against the occupation.” In addition to election preparations, Hadash leadership issued a formal call for public mobilization. Activists and supporters are urged to participate in International Workers’ Day events on Friday, May 1, in Tel Aviv, on Saturday, May 2 in Nazareth and other localities.

12.04.2026 - 01:57 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

New Poll: The Joint List Becomes the Third-largest Faction in the Knesset

Channel 13 also asked respondents how they would vote if Hadash and three Arab parties, Ra’am, Ta’al and Balad, ran together as the Joint List, as they have done in the past. In such a scenario, the Joint List would become the third largest parliamentary faction, with sixteen seats. Likud would shrink to 20 and Religious Zionism would rise to six, giving Netanyahu’s coalition a total of 53 seats, and Bennett’s party would shrink to 20 while Yashar Eisenkot’s and Democrats Golan’s parties would drop to eleven and seven, respectively, giving the Zionist opposition bloc a total of 51 seats. Hadash and the Arab parties pledged earlier this year to work to reestablish the Joint List, with little signs of progress.

08.02.2026 - 18:41 [ Dan Perry / Jerusalem Post ]

Will Israel’s Arabs reach the political Promised Land? – opinion

The trend in Arab politics is for the four main existing parties to reorganize as a “Joint List” for this year’s election. The aim is to both maximize turnout and prevent wasted votes (because of Balad, nearly 3% of ballots were thrown away last time, and together with a similar situation in Meretz, this handed victory to Netanyahu). Such a list is expected to win 15 seats or more, and even if it splits after the election, some of its components will want to participate in the government. If it’s formed by the opposition, support among Arabs would be overwhelming.

06.02.2026 - 21:03 [ Abed Abou Shhadeh / +972 Magazine ]

What the Joint List’s revival signifies for Palestinian politics in Israel

(January 28, 2026)

This is a historic event in a volatile political moment. Even before the publication of polls gauging the Joint List’s electoral strength — predicting that it could secure 15-16 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, making it the third largest force in Israeli politics — the popular demand for unity suggests the possibility for unprecedented voter turnout in Arab society.

Israeli news outlets described the renewal of the Joint List as “drama in the political system,” and rightly so. Such a scenario would alter the balance between opposing blocs and force Zionist parties across the spectrum — from Yair Golan’s center-left Democrats to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud — to recalibrate their strategies.

06.02.2026 - 20:53 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Polls: Joint List Wins 14-15 Seats

Polls show the Joint List gaining strength and win 14 to 15 seats in the next Knesset. Wednesday’s Channel 13 survey sees far-right PM Netanyahu’s Likud party gaining one seat and the Jont List win 15. As with previous surveys, without the Joint List parties’ support, both blocs fall short of securing the required 61-seat majority to form a ruling coalition

According to another poll, published on Thursday by the Zman Israel website, Joint list of Hadash and three Arab parties would win 14 of the Knesset’s 120 seats if elections were held today, continuing to prevent a parliamentary majority from the Zionist opposition parties.

23.01.2026 - 19:38 [ NewArab.com ]

Israel: Arab parties agree to revive Joint List ahead of Knesset election

„The Joint List could become the second or third largest party in the Knesset in terms of size and representation, forming a parliamentary bloc capable of achieving far more than any small party acting alone,“ he added.

Efforts to re-establish the Joint List have been underway for some time. In August, The Times of Israel reported that party leaders were holding talks aimed at reviving the alliance, amid frustration over Israel’s war on Gaza and a desire to increase the political influence of Palestinian citizens of Israel.

23.01.2026 - 19:30 [ Middle East Eye ]

Palestinian parties in Israel agree to revive Joint List ahead of elections

The pledge document, entitled „Joint List Now“, was signed by Sami Abu Shehadeh, head of the National Democratic Assembly (Balad); Ayman Odeh, head of the Hadash alliance; Ahmad Tibi, head of the Arab Movement for Change (Ta’al); and Mansour Abbas, head of the United Arab List (Ra’am).

The parties first formed the Joint List in 2015 to run on a shared platform representing Palestinian citizens of Israel.

19.09.2025 - 03:05 [ +972 Magazine ]

Israel’s opposition is plotting a return to power. But it remains its own worst enemy

Yet such promises count for little at a time when Israel’s current government continues to bomb, shell, and starve Palestinians in Gaza, all while taking rapid steps toward formally annexing the West Bank. Nor has the opposition — neither its parliamentary representatives, like the Democrats, or the protest movement in the streets — shown the ability to turn growing discontent over the government’s handling of the war and abandonment of the hostages into a full-throated defense of Palestinians’ humanity.

Until they do, it is hard to imagine just how different the next government, whoever comprises it, will be when it comes to the prospect of peace and equality for all the people in this land.

02.09.2025 - 19:23 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Negotiations to Reestablish the Joint List

Hadash and three Arab parties Ra’am, Ta’al, and Balad are negotiating to reestablish the Joint List bloc ahead for the next elections. “The atmosphere during the meeting on Sunday was really good,” MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Hadash-Ta’al) told The Jerusalem Post. During the meeting, Hadash-Ta’al presented a “road map toward the Joint List” who included a detailed three-phase process for the reestablishing the list.

08.06.2025 - 20:27 [ Ynetnews.com ]

Negotiations underway to reunite Arab parties: ‚Oust Netanyahu, Smotrich and Ben Gvir’s government‘

(June 3, 2025)

Amid talks about a possible early election triggered by the controversy over the exemption law from military service, interest is growing among Arab parties inside and outside the Knesset. In recent weeks, quiet negotiations have been underway to unite all the Arab parties: Ra’am, Hadash, Ta’al and Balad. The goal is to replicate the dramatic success of the Joint List in the March 2020 Knesset elections, when it won 15 seats.

24.05.2025 - 00:55 [ +972 Magazine ]

What can the Joint List teach us about building Palestinian political power?

Yet Israel’s political chaos between 2019 and 2022, marked by five consecutive elections and an electorate divided almost evenly between pro- and anti-Netanyahu camps, gave the Joint List an unexpected second life. Reconstituted ahead of the September 2019 vote, it immediately regained its 13 seats. Then, in March 2020, it achieved a historic milestone, becoming Israel’s third-largest party with 15 seats — the highest ever for Palestinian representation. Turnout rebounded, while support for Zionist parties among Palestinian voters collapsed from 28 percent to just 12 percent.

04.11.2022 - 09:56 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

MK Odeh: Our Public Will Stand Firm Against Fascism and Racism.

While the pro-Netanyahu bloc is slated to expand to 65 seats in the Knesset following yesterday’s election, Channel 12 reports that it only received 8,189 more votes than the anti-Netanyahu bloc. However, because Arab Balad party and possibly Zionist Meretz failed to cross the threshold, their votes were scattered to other parties rather than being redistributed to the anti-Netanyahu bloc, which is slated to end with just 55 seats in the Knesset. Both blocs won roughly 50% of the vote, though the final tallies are not yet available.

02.11.2022 - 10:01 [ James J. Marlow / Twitter ]

We are beginning to see a picture of results although there is still some distance to go. But at this stage, Meretz and Balad are OUT and Labor colleagues have turned against their leader, Merav Michaeli. #IsraelElections2022 #Israelex5

27.10.2022 - 02:35 [ MSN.com ]

This Election Poll Made the Israeli Left Panic, as It Should

In the early stages of the campaign, when parties could still merge with others, Lapid begged Merav Michaeli, the leader of Labor, to join forces with Meretz. Even the James Webb telescope would fail to find ideological differences between the two parties. Michaeli, whatever her reasons may have truly been, shot down the idea. Now she could enter history books as the first Labor leader to remain beneath the threshold, and outside the Knesset.

24.10.2022 - 07:36 [ KnessetJeremy.com ]

9 Days to Election – KnessetJeremy Polling Average: Likud 31.6, Yesh Atid 24.3, Smotrich 13.4, Gantz 11.6, Shas 8.1, UTJ 7; Blocs Deadlocked

(October 23, 2022)

Smotrich made the most significant gain with a 0.6 jump. Liberman’s Yisrael Beitenu went up for the second straight week, this time by 0.3.

Likud dropped for the second consecutive week, this time by 0.5. Gantz also went down this week, this time by 0.3. Lapid’s Yesh Atid also lost 0.1.

Overall, we remain stuck at a 60-60 deadlock between the two blocs.

02.10.2022 - 15:45 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Hadash-Ta’al Slams Lapid, Michaeli for Refusing to Block Barring of Arab Parties

Hadash-Ta’al commented on the Central Election Commission’s decision to disqualify Balad’s candidacy for the 25th Knesset. “The decision to disqualify Balad is an unfortunate decision. [Benny] Gantz, [Yair] Lapid and [Meirav] Michaeli proved that they are right-wing in disguise. Despite the anger of the racists who want to keep the Arabs away from the polling stations, on election day we all flock to the polling stations.”

02.10.2022 - 15:41 [ Times of Israel ]

Elections panel blocks Balad party’s run for Knesset, against AG’s advice

Balad and several of its lawmakers have been disqualified by past elections panels, and have so far won every appeal to the High Court to be reinstated. The party is expected to make a similar appeal to return to November’s contest following Thursday’s disqualification.

Earlier on Thursday, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara released a letter to the committee stating that there was no basis for disqualifying either Balad or the Islamist Ra’am party. The panel ultimately cleared Ra’am’s path to the ballot box, dismissing petitions that alleged the party supported terrorist organizations.

02.10.2022 - 15:33 [ Times of Israel ]

Israel: Balad banned from election run, Ra‘am qualifies

(29.09.2022)

Despite appeals filed alleging that Ra‘am „supports terrorism,“ the vote to allow their running passed 14-0, with representatives from Likud, the Religious Zionist Party, Yesh Atid, and Labor not present.
Israel‘s Defense Minister Benny Gantz of the National Unity Party ruled on Thursday that all of his party representatives on the election committee will vote to disqualify Balad from running for parliament.

20.08.2022 - 23:36 [ Haaretz ]

Israel Election: Balad Chairman Says Joint List Project Must Be Reconsidered

Representatives from the three component parties of the Joint List – Hadash, Balad and Ta’al – were supposed to meet in Nazareth on Wednesday, but Balad’s representatives did not turn up, and the meeting was held without them.

Balad officials told Haaretz on Thursday that the party will run independently if it manages to put together a slate that includes mayors of Arab communities, prominent Arab civil-society activists, a candidate from the Negev and a Jewish candidate.

05.02.2021 - 11:40 [ Haaretz ]

Israel Election: Three of Four Joint List Factions Run Together, United Arab List to Go Solo

Three of the four factions of Joint List – Hadash, Ta‘al and Balad – have signed an agreement for a united bid for Israel‘s March election, parting ways with the conservative United Arab List after a prolonged period of disagreements.

20.12.2019 - 17:52 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Third Israeli Election in 11 months; Joint List Aiming to Win 15 Seats

Joint List chairman, MK Odeh (Hadash) said that the four parties comprising the list will remain united in the upcoming March 2020 election. “We played an important role in preventing Netanyahu from forming a government and in averting his receiving immunity. We have made it half way there. Now we have another election. We promise our public to stay united as the Joint List,” Odeh says in a statement.

“The upcoming election will be the swan song of the indicted resident of Balfour Street,” added Odeh on Twitter, referring to the prime minister, whose residence is on Balfour Street in Jerusalem. “We will conclude them with an historic achievement of 15 seats,” he said.

23.09.2019 - 15:59 [ Daniel Neun / Twitter ]

Heba Yazbak, Mtanes Shehadeh, Sami Abu Shehadeh, #Balad : if you make Netanyahu Israel‘s prime minister, again, may your names be cursed forever in the history of humanity. Relentlessly, your Daniel 9.

23.09.2019 - 15:24 [ Haaretz ]

Israel Election Results: Three Arab Lawmakers Refuse to Endorse Gantz; Netanyahu Leads With 55 Backers

Balad announces it won‘t back Gantz, leaving Kahol Lavan with 54 recommendations, while 55 lawmakers said they would recommend Netanyahu ■ Rivlin summons Gantz, Netanyahu for meeting after consultations