Ibrahim Abu Ahmad on Israeli election: 'Crucial for Arab citizens to have ally in Jewish community'

Erin Ogunkeye is pleased to welcome Ibrahim Abu Ahmad, Author, Palestinian Israeli political and peace activist and Head of Social Media for Israel's left-wing Democrats party. “Currently, the sentiment in Israel is built around fear and trauma,” argues Ahmad. In his assessment, Benjamin Netanyahu has transformed collective insecurity into a powerful instrument of political mobilisation, reinforcing divisions that extend beyond the governing coalition and into the opposition itself. Yet Ahmad's most striking observation concerns the apparent contradiction between political leadership and public sentiment: “Many want to see an Arab-Jewish coalition. It's the leadership that is afraid to say it.” Ahmad examines the political marginalisation of Palestinian citizens of Israel, the consequences of October 7 for their everyday lives, and the limits of an opposition that seeks to replace Netanyahu while remaining reluctant to embrace Arab parties as legitimate governing partners. He distinguishes between opposition to Netanyahu as a political leader and opposition to the deeper structures of exclusion that, he argues, continue to shape Israeli political life. Ultimately, his analysis moves beyond conventional electoral calculations to fr...