AMMAN, 6 February, 2021 (TON): The Joint Arab list including the four parties in Israel has shattered, with Mansour Abbas leaving the alliance.

“We’ve failed, unfortunately. The Joint List will not continue in its current party lineup,” said Balad Knesset member Mtanes Shehadeh, adding: “At this point, we cannot continue as the Joint List because of our fundamental political differences.”

Presently, the three party list comprises of Hadash, the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, headed by Ayman Odeh, Balad (Tajamu) the Pan-Arabism, left wing party headed by Sami Abu Shehadeh, and Ta’al, the Arab Movement for Change, headed by Ahmad Tibi.

This move has been described as a win-win for the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. “If Mansour Abbas fails to pass the 3.25 percent (vote) threshold, he would have burnt tens of thousands of Arab votes and if he wins, he will likely support Netanyahu to form a government,” Nazareth-based lawyer and political analyst Botrus Mansour told the media.

Abbas’s split had become clear in the past few months, having tested the waters with Netanyahu, who made a surprise visit to the Arab towns of Um Al-Fahmi, Tire and Nazareth, and pledged to help fight crime within Arab society.

The violence in the Arab has claimed many lives in the past few weeks. Abbas’s party also criticized t the vote of some members of the Joint List to support LGBTQ legislation.

Wadie Abunassar, director of the Haifa-based International Centre for Consultations, told the media that passing the high electoral threshold will be the test for a number of parties in the center and left.

He said, “The only thing that is sure is that Netanyahu’s Likud and his supporters are united, while the center and center-left factions are splintered with a number of lists unlikely to pass the threshold, which requires about 120,000 votes for any list to qualify for entry to the Knesset.”

The polls by the public exhibit that the parties in coalition against Netanyahu becoming the PM will more likely to be tied or maybe have more seats than Netanyahu and his associates, however, it is confusing that whether the anti-Netanyahu groups would be united and be able to choose the PM.