In a country where most of the electorate leans to the right, the 57-year-old member of a Communist party that includes both Jewish and Arab lawmakers is used to threats and hate mail.

But the backlash intensified after his party united with the main Arab factions, including the Islamist Movement, on a joint list ahead of snap elections on March 17.

Although Khenin is not the only Jewish Israeli on the list, which counts 119 people, he holds the eighth slot, making him the only one with a realistic chance of entering parliament on the Arab slate.