The Joint List would become the third largest faction in the Knesset if elections were held today, according to the results of a poll broadcast last night (Monday, May 25) on Channel 13 News. According to the poll, the Joint List would win 16 seats, while Likud drops to 23 seats and “Beyachad” falls to 21 seats. In this scenario, Netanyahu’s extremist right-wing bloc drops to 53 seats, while the Zionist opposition bloc falls to 51 seats. To form an alternative government, the opposition parties would need the Joint List to secure a majority of 67 Knesset members.
Archiv: Joint List / four-party alliance in Israel founded 2015 / Ra'am leaves in January 2021 / List shrinks to Hadash-Ta´al list in 2022 / renewal planned for 2026 election
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.”
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.
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.
MK Odeh: Will do Everything to Prevent Smotrich-Netanyahu-Ben Gvir from Continuing in Power
Smotrich’s comments drew immediate condemnation from the opposition, with Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas asserting that “human life holds no value in his eyes”. MK Ayman Odeh, the chairman of Hadash-Ta’al parliamentary faction, also slammed Smotrich, declaring on X that “what the racists and Kahanists say is not important, what matters is what we will do.” “And we, the Arab citizens, together with the democratic Jews, will do everything, simply everything, to prevent Smotrich-Netanyahu-Ben Gvir from continuing to another term,” Odeh wrote.
Smotrich: Including Arab party in government ‘a thousand times’ worse than Oct. 7 failures
(May 5, 2026)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sparked an uproar on Tuesday when he asserted that former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s decision to include the Islamist Ra’am party in his 2021-2022 government was far worse than the governmental failures tied to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught — the worst attack on civilians in Israeli history, which saw some 1,200 people murdered and 251 taken hostage, and which led to a multi-front war in which some 900 others have been killed.
Smotrich’s comments drew immediate condemnation from the opposition, with Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas asserting that “human life holds no value in [his] eyes” and Bennett accusing the finance minister, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of “trying with all their might to make people forget the atrocities that occurred on their watch.”
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.
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.
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.
A political party with a vision for our future
(February 5, 2026)
Among other things, he told us that the Democrats already have 60,000 members registered in the party, and are shooting for 100,000 now, which will make us the second-largest political party in Israel in terms of numbers. In addition, he stressed the need to reach out to the Arab citizens of Israel, who make up 22 percent of our population:
There is no future for Israel without Jewish-Arab cooperation in Israeli politics.
This is a critical issue in the political discourse right now, since it is obvious that a new government will not be able to be formed if the so-called “centrist” political parties don’t agree to welcome Arab political parties into the next coalition. So far, only The Democrats have agreed to do so!
‘We Are Going to Live With Scars’: Yair Golan’s Battle for a Two-State Solution
(February 4, 2026)
We were sitting in his modest office behind a Pizza Hut in a quiet neighborhood in Tel Aviv last September. On the wall was a framed photograph of Rabin shaking the hand of King Hussein of Jordan. I asked Golan whether the rift could be repaired. “We’re like a body that’s been injured. We are going to live with scars. But OK.” He rolled up his shirtsleeves and pointed to a spot where a bullet from the Hezbollah sniper had sliced through his arm. “It’s possible to live with scars,” he said.
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.
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.
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.
Return of Joint List Takes Seats from Zionist Opposition
The Zionist opposition bloc achieves 57 seats, while the coalition bloc has 51, with the Joint List in the middle and the poll indicates that the opposition will not be able to form a government without the support of the Joint List. 48% of opposition voters support a government that would be externally supported by the Joint List. 37% oppose the move, and 15% answered that they do not know.
Hadash MK Ayman Odeh, said Friday during a meeting that “Hadash and Arab parties are moving to form a unified joint list to confront the fascist government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections.” “These elections are not just about arithmetic. They are a political and ethical battle to prevent the continuation of Netanyahu’s policies and those of his far-right extremist ministers,” added.
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.
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.
MK Odeh in Berlin: Germany – Recognize Palestine
According to Odeh, “Every hostage returned from Gaza is a victory. Every child and family who survived Gaza is a victory. But that is not the victory Netanyahu wants.” He said, “What has been achieved and at what price? Palestinian cities have been erased from the map. Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza were killed, including 20,000 children. Hundreds of thousands were left without homes. This is not a victory. This is devastation,” and called on “those responsible for crimes against humanity” to be held accountable.
“The Israeli state was already like Sparta – now it has become a super Sparta. If this is victory, what does defeat look like?” Odeh wondered. Odeh also urged Germany to recognize a Palestinian state, saying that the only request he had of U.S. President Donald Trump when he came to address Israel’s Knesset in October was to recognize a Palestinian state. “So, I ask you too: Germany – recognize Palestine! Recognize that there are two people in our shared homeland, both with the right to self-determination,” he cried out, to great applause.
Regarding Germany, Odeh said that Berlin “carries the scars of the 20th century and stands as a living reminder of how far human cruelty can go when power is absolute. When racism is normalized and people are dehumanized. But a city like Berlin can be both a graveyard for history, resistance culture and rebirth,” he said. Odeh also said the history of Berlin teaches that “silence in the face of injustice is deadly. It was silence that made the greatest crime of the century possible. And yet, today we see silence return, dressed up in diplomatic language.”
Odeh urges opposition factions to work together to topple Netanyahu’s government ‘as soon as possible’
Hadash-Ta’al chairman Ayman Odeh calls on fellow opposition factions to join together to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government “as soon as possible.”
Addressing reporters ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Odeh says that the government has three aims during the current parliamentary session, “harming the West Bank…promoting the judicial coup…and preventing the Arab population from running in the next elections.”
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.
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.
With only 73 votes in favor, motion to expel Hadash-Ta’al chair Ayman Odeh fails to pass
The petition was put forth in January, when Odeh said he was “happy for the release of hostages and prisoners” as part of the Gaza truce that was signed that month. The petition clinched the required number of signatures after Odeh said at an anti-war protest in Haifa in May that “Gaza has won and Gaza will win.”
Both United Torah Judaism and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White—National Unity party boycott the vote, while Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and most of his Yesh Atid party’s MKs are absent as well.
The measure is supported by the coalition and by opposition party Yisrael Beytenu. The Democrats vote against it.
Senators Bernie Sanders, Peter Welch and Chris Van Hollen in Solidarity with Odeh
(16 hours ago)
“We strongly condemn the effort to expel MK Ayman Odeh from the Israeli Knesset,” the US senators said. “If Israel is going to call itself a democracy, it must tolerate peaceful dissent.” The senators linked the expulsion effort to Odeh’s calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, and a political solution between Israelis and Palestinians.
“For over a decade, MK Odeh has been a leading advocate for peace, justice, and Jewish-Arab partnership,” they said. “The current expulsion effort is a direct response to MK Odeh’s outspoken and brave calls.” The lawmakers described the move as sending “a chilling message to millions of Palestinian citizens of Israel: that their representation is conditional and their rights revocable.” “We stand in solidarity with MK Odeh and with the right of all lawmakers, Arab and Jewish, to speak freely and without fear of political retribution,” they said.
The Knesset vs Ayman Odeh
On Monday, the Knesset House Committee voted to impeach Palestinian parliamentarian Ayman Odeh, head of the predominantly Arab Hadash-Ta’al list. His crime? In January, as the two-month Gaza ceasefire came into effect, Odeh tweeted: “I am happy about the release of the [Israeli] hostages and [Palestinian] prisoners. From here, both peoples must be freed from the yoke of the occupation. We were all born free.”
As I watched the committee’s hearing, I felt like my eyes were bleeding. It was physically unbearable. Knesset members from across the political spectrum — who aren’t worthy of the dust on Odeh’s shoes when it comes to humanism, morality, and democratic integrity — competed to see who could spew the vilest rhetoric against him.
No one paid attention to the Knesset’s legal adviser — who, after the obligatory lip service condemning Odeh’s “disgusting statements,” concluded that there was no legal basis for his impeachment. And it goes without saying that no one listened to Odeh’s attorney, Dr. Hassan Jabareen, who explained why the proposal was procedurally flawed, legally unsound, and morally bankrupt.
From the first sentence to the last, the hearing was a farce.
MK Ayman Odeh decries Knesset House Committee as ‚fascist‘ after impeachment vote
The impeachment was not just a response to specific statements but directed against “Odeh as a person and everything he represents,” Boaron said in his closing argument. At the end of the hearing, committee chairman Ofir Katz (Likud) said Odeh was a “bitter enemy” of Israel, and in a “normal country,” he would “rot in jail.”
Only Ra’am MK Waleed Taha and Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmad Tibi voted against his impeachment.
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.
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.