Israel/Palestine

In response to a request from Al-Monitor, Joint List Chairman Ayman Odeh said his party's members have not yet decided what to do. “In the event that one of the Knesset members is actually suspended from the Knesset, we will have to examine all our options. That includes turning to the courts and the international community,” he said. Odeh accused Netanyahu of spearheading the suspension bill with a clear goal in mind: to alienate and anger the Arab public to the point that it will boycott the next elections. Then the Arab sector would no longer constitute a political power capable of tipping the political scale and bringing down the government. (Arabs eligible to vote make up about 15% of the total number of Israelis eligible to vote — hence, in theory, 18 Knesset seats.) But even Odeh knows that the mission he faces now is to find the magic formula that will keep the Joint List intact, following the crisis it would undoubtedly face after the bill is conclusively passed into law by the Knesset.