An internal poll commissioned by the Hadash-Ta’al slate (MKs Aiman Odeh and Ahmad Tibi) in recent days shows that the voting among Israeli Arab in the coming elections will be about 51% – a decline of about 19% compared with the previous elections, Ha’aretz reported on Friday.
In addition to the two major lists fighting for the Arab vote, Hadash-Ta’al and Ra’am-Balad, a number of new parties are also vying for the Arab vote, which are not expected to approach the 3.25% vote threshold. These new slates are sure to add to the losses of the big four Arab parties, further reducing Arab representation in the Knesset.
According to the Hadash-Ta’al internal survey, which was conducted by the Yafa Institute under the direction of Dr. A’as Atrash among 500 Arab adults from across Israel, the turnout in the upcoming elections is expected to be 19%, which is lower than in the previous elections, when 63% of Arab voters came to the polls. The expected turnout in the current poll will likely drop to 51%, lower than it was in the 2013 elections, when voter turnout was 55%.
The Ha’aretz report found that all four main Arab parties find it difficult to interest the young Arab voters in the elections. The division of the Arab list into two separate slates, one of which, Ra’am-Balad, has difficulty crossing the electoral threshold in the polls, indicates that the Arab politicians do not understand that the union between the different parties as the third largest faction in the 20th Knesset, is precisely what ignited their voters’ imagination.
The current split has caused disappointment and loss of confidence in the Arab public, which will undoubtedly be expressed in indifference at the polls.