Former Diplomat Says Israeli Leaders Are Ignoring Arab Voters

The recent election results in Israel have left the country without a clear path to a stable government, creating a political vacuum that former diplomats are struggling to explain.

Alon Pinkas, who served as an adviser to former Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Shimon Peres, described the opposition’s refusal to cooperate with Arab-led parties as myopic and reckless. He spoke with NPR on October 28, arguing that the current stance ignores the shifting political reality on the ground.

Pinkas suggested two viable options for opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot. The first is forming a direct coalition with the Arab-led blocs. The second involves creating a minority government that receives outside support from these parties, allowing them to vote on key legislation and confidence motions without holding cabinet seats.

Both Eisenkot and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have rejected these models. Netanyahu, in particular, called the prospect of governing with Arab party support a shame and a disgrace. He and Eisenkot share a reluctance to bridge the gap between the center and the Arab-led factions, which draw significant support from Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Pinkas challenged the common argument that such alliances threaten Israel’s identity as a Jewish state. He noted that the same logic could apply to ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, which often describe themselves as non-Zionist. He pointed to rising crime and murder rates in Arab communities as a driver of voter behavior, claiming Netanyahu’s government willfully ignored these issues by failing to deploy sufficient police.

The former diplomat expressed little doubt about Netanyahu’s ability to lead the country forward. In a blunt assessment, Pinkas stated that Mr. Netanyahu cannot form a government. He repeated the word cannot to emphasize his view that the Prime Minister is locked out of a viable coalition.