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Israel's United Arab List Party Plans to Dominate Next Knesset Opposition

© REUTERS / Sebastian Scheiner/Pool Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - Sputnik International
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The United Arab List's spokesman said that the party planned to dominate in the next Knesset’s opposition.

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TEL AVIV (Sputnik), Svetlana Alexandrova — Israel's United Arab List party will have a dominant place in the next Knesset’s opposition after Benjamin Netanyahu's general election win, the party's spokesman told Sputnik Wednesday.

"We will be the third party in the next Knesset, we plan to dominate in the opposition," party spokesperson Yousef Jabareen told Sputnik.

The Arab parties finished third, after an unusually high turnout by Arab voters helped the party claim 14 seats.

"In the next Knesset we will advocate for equality for Arab citizens of Israel," he said, adding that Arabs account for approximately 20 percent of the Israeli population.

Jabareen recalled that in November, Netanyahu promoted a bill which would anchor in law the status of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. However, President Reuven Rivlin pointed out that the law runs counter to its founding fathers' vision of equality for Arab citizens.

"It is a great disappointment that Netanyahu won once again," Jabareen stated, stressing that he was surprised by Netanyahu's victory.

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The politician believes that the prime minister did not offer Israelis any viable plans on how to deal with the two main issues in Israel today like the peace process and economic difficulties such as high house prices and food costs.

The United Arab List member thinks that the next government coalition in Israel will be right-wing rather than center-right, underscoring that it won't be a very viable one either.

According to the politician, in order to break the chain of Netanyahu's reelections, the country needs a powerful opposition that offers a clear alternative to his policies based, in particular, on the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel and clear economic reforms and initiatives.

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas's spokesman said Wednesday that the PA is not concerned with who will be Israel's next prime minister. Nabil Abu Rudeineh was quoted by the Ma'an News Agency as saying that Palestinians want whichever Israeli government is formed to recognize the two-state solution with East Jerusalem serving as the capital of an independent Palestinian state.

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