New internal battle within the Joint Arab List ahead of alliance announcement
Drama unfolds between the list partners: Hadash, Ta'al, and Balad. At the center is Ahmad Tibi's Ta'al, which is disappointed with its allocated seats and is demanding an improved offer.
The Joint Arab List (Hadash, Ta'al, and Balad — excluding Ra'am) is expected to officially announce a renewed unification today, Sunday, for the first time since the 2021 elections. However, moments before the official announcement, a drama is emerging between the partners regarding the order of the unified list. At the center is Ahmad Tibi's Ta'al, which is disappointed with the number of seats allocated to it and is demanding an improved offer.
The list order, which previously led to a split and a separate run by Balad in 2022, remains a primary point of contention.
Each partner claims to deserve greater representation: Hadash expects at least 4 realistic seats, while Balad and Ta'al each demand 3, even though polls predict only 6–7 realistic seats for the entire list. The Arab Reconciliation Committee, which is determining the allocation, has so far offered an "insulting" proposal to Tibi: 2nd place in the union and only one additional spot at the bottom of the top ten.
Ta'al officials argue that if Tibi had headed the list instead of the new Hadash chairman, Yousef Jabareen, the Joint List would have won two additional mandates. They add that without Ta'al joining the list, it risks failing to pass the electoral threshold.
Meanwhile, polls indicate that the Arab public expects the partners to rise to the occasion and unite, especially after Ra'am decided to pursue an independent path.
"If the union falls apart again because of ego, the public will not forgive us," representatives of the Arab parties stated. "We cannot afford this."
