Historic gains for Arab-majority parties in Israeli election

In Nazareth, one of Israel's largest Arab cities, the emerging election results bring some hope. Palestinian citizens of Israel, around 20% of the country's population, bucked historic trends and turned out in record numbers to vote. Many as a protest against the Netanyahu government, which has made them feel like second-class citizens. We voted for a change of government because we've seen this government go from bad to worse. We want to return to a life of coexistence so we can live together in harmony. We expect the people elected to work on the issues that matter to our community, especially violence, crime, education and job opportunities. Both the Joint List, an alliance of secular Arab parties, and Ra'am, Israel's Islamist Arab-led party, have said they're willing to work with the opposition. Our duty and responsibility is to turn this voting bloc into a major political force. We're ready and prepared to pave the way for the ousting of the Netanyahu government. The change comes through Jewish-Arab partnership, a true and equal partnership. No more, no less. Netanyahu's top challenger, Gadi Eisenkot, has left the door open to partnering with Arab parties under certain conditions, including their recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. It is not clear whether some of his likely partners who have ruled out such an alliance will change their minds to oust Netanyahu from office. There's Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman, his coalition partners, that they may have other calculations and would want to abide by their election promise not to sit with the Arabs. As they emerge as possible kingmakers, Netanyahu's Likud party has accused the Arab parties of having stolen the election and demanded police and Shin Bet investigations into it. The latest in recurring attacks by the Israeli prime minister, who has frequently used inflammatory language targeting Arab citizens and their parties.