Netanyahu, who is fighting for his political survival as prosecutors prepare to indict him on corruption charges, has made Arabs a focal point of his campaign.
The danger for the prime minister is that his attacks could backfire and motivate more Arabs to go to the polls. Benny Gantz, the former army chief of staff who leads Blue and White, the largest opposition party, has been courting the Arab vote.
Tibi continued with a reference to the infamous Nazi Joseph Goebbels: “We understand which historic Minister of Propaganda is inspiring the Likud’s campaign.”Netanyahu, you’re anti-semiticHe then offered Jewish opponents of Netanyahu the chance to make a political statement on their Twitter profiles by adding their names in Arabic.
He went on to accuse his opponents of cutting a deal with Tibi to make him a Cabinet minister should they win.This is not the first election in which Netanyahu has tried to get votes by fanning the flames of anti-Arab sentiment. Likud inspectors, for example, brandished 1,200 cameras in polling places in Arab communities in an attempt to scare voters.
It did, however, provide Israelis with an enduring image: Ayman Odeh, chairman of the Joint List, the largest majority-Arab party in Israel, holding his phone inches from Netanyahu’s face while the prime minister defended his bill. Late last month, Odeh said he was would be willing to join a center-left coalition government as a full partner, a move that would make him the first leader of an Arab-majority party to join an Israeli Cabinet.
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