Arab Parties Move Toward Joint List, Without Ra'am

The Arab parties have agreed to run on a three-party list uniting Hadash, Balad and Ta'al, without Ra'am, it was reported today (Wednesday) on Kan News. All sides confirm that they have reached a stage of moving from the Joint List to two separate lists, and at this stage the three parties believe they will be able to form a list together within a few days.

Hadash issued a statement saying that the party, יחד with Ta'al and Balad, had decided to move forward with forming the joint list without Ra'am. "Despite the efforts and flexibility shown by the three parties throughout the process, no final agreement has yet been reached with Ra'am," the statement said. "Forming a joint list that includes all components is still the best way to increase turnout and replace Netanyahu's government," Hadash added. "We will act accordingly while leaving the door open for Ra'am to join the move at any time."

Yesterday, as part of efforts to revive the Joint List, representatives of the National Committee of Arab Local Authority Heads met in Sakhnin with the heads of the four parties in an attempt to bring the negotiations to a decision. The meeting ended without a breakthrough and with considerable frustration, as the sides left the room more pessimistic than ever. Sources involved in the talks admitted they are closer to running on two separate lists than to agreeing on one unified list.

Sources around the party leaders told Kan News that even after last week's meeting of the four party leaders, it was already clear that things were heading in a negative direction. This followed the impression in the three parties that Ra'am was creating difficulties and adding new demands to the negotiations after the parties had agreed to a technical list. Another meeting, intended to include only the party leaders, was supposed to take place tomorrow, but there are doubts whether it will be convened.

The developments come after last month, Ra'am chairman MK Mansour Abbas said at a activists' conference that his party would run in the upcoming election on a joint list. According to him, the condition for a joint run is that the list be technical only, and disband after the election. Abbas explained that this decision was intended to unite the electoral efforts of the Arab parties without pursuing a political merger and without a common platform among all components of the list.

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