Behind the Headlines the Arab Vote in the Elections

Six Arabs–four of them Moslems, one a Druze and one a Greek Orthodox Christian–will have seats in the eight Knesset, the same “Arab quota” as in the previous Knesset. This numerical stability, how-ever, by no means reflects a no-change outcome of the polls in the Arab sector. On the contrary–behind the figures lies a fundamental change in the political structure of Israel’s Arab minority. And it is a change for the worse. The next government, overburdened with other problems as it certainly will be, will have to spend time and effort for a comprehensive review of the new situation in this sensitive sector.

There is one element of this disturbing picture over which there can be no argument: the 75 percent turnout in the Arab sector was the lowest since the 1951 elections. This unusual apathy stemmed apparently from the war and its aftermath. Israel’s image of invincibility was tarnished in the eyes of its Arab citizens. Quite a few chose therefore to ignore the elections altogether, thus recording their protest against the very existence of the state.

Of those who did vote many more than previously reached the same conclusion, casting their ballots for the anti-Zionist Rakah Communist Party which is heavily colored by Arab nationalist tendencies. An estimated 45,000 Arabs voted for Rakah. The party appealed to the Arab electorate with a campaign for immediate Israel withdrawal to the 1967 lines and its demand for self-determination for the Palestinians as well as with promises to fight “repression” of the minority at home.

Rakah recovered from the three percent setback it suffered in the Histadrut election earlier in the year. It gained more than 20 percent and added a fourth Knesset seat to its previous three In fact, Rakah won a majority in most of the major Arab villages of the Triangle and Lower and Western Galilee including an impressive victory in Nazareth. The Labor Alignment received some 63,000 Arab votes in all, compared to Rakah’s 45,000. Of these, 24,000 went directly to the Alignment ticket, 17,000 to a new Bedouin list affiliated with Labor, and 23,000-odd to the Galilee list also Labor-affiliated.

ROLE OF RAKAH CRUCIAL

The others gained much less. Likud had 8000 Arab votes, part of them wasted on a Bedouin Likud-affiliated list which did not reach the one percent minimum. The National Religious Party kept its 12,000 Arab voters. There was also a thin spread of Arab votes among the small parties–including one Arab village which gave all its 200 votes to a Jewish Maoist group led by imprisoned spy Rami Livneh which never had a chance of reaching the one percent level.

The main lesson of the election is that in order to block further Rakah advances the Labor Alignment must completely remodel its tactics. If Rakah ever gets closer to the 50 percent of the Arab vote “redline” it would endanger the entire policy of liberalization and integration which was begun in 1965. Until now Rakah has prevented its members from engaging in subversive activity aside from outspoken criticism and propaganda. But pressure from its swelling ranks may create intolerable tension. As more and more Arab voters go over to Rakah, the nationalist activists inside this party would inevitably gain the upper hand.

It has been proven fairly conclusively by the election that the Labor Alignment’s “old guard Arab leadership” cannot successfully fight Rakah any longer. The most striking example of this was the fate of Labor’s most prominent Arab leader, Nazareth Mayor Seif E-Din Zuabi who received only 3000 Knesset votes for Labor in his hometown. The Bedouin sheikh who led the Alignment-affiliated Bedouin list only polled 4000 of the Negev Bedouins 11,000 voters.

Labor will, as a result, look for new Arab leaders within the young intellectual and trade union circles, people differing in background, outlook and personal integrity from the present leadership who are really drawn from the traditional “notables” circles.