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A30 world news
Diabierna 26 Maart 2021

Tight Israeli vote means Arab Islamist could choose next PM

wave of violent crime. out the UAL if he convinces the medical profession and at
members of the other bloc to universities.
Arab parties have never asked defect.
to serve in an Israeli govern- But they face widespread
ment or been invited to do so. Abbas hails from the Islamic discrimination in housing
Abbas could break with that Movement, which was es- and public services. In recent
tradition, potentially request- tablished in 1971 along the years they have held regular
ing a Cabinet post in return lines of the pan-Arab Mus- protests condemning violent
for his support. More likely, lim Brotherhood group. Its crime and accusing Israeli
he would not hold an official primary aim is the Islamiza- authorities of failing to do
post, but instead support the tion of Arab society, which enough to protect their com-
(AP) — After a hard- saw as a two-pronged strategy coalition from outside the it pursues through religious munities, allegations rejected
fought election, an Arab aimed at picking up votes and government in return for outreach and a vast network by the police.
Islamist could choose Is- splitting the Joint List, an alli- greater public investment in of charities.
rael's next prime minister. ance of Arab parties that won housing, infrastructure and Israel's Arab citizens have
a record 15 seats in elections law enforcement in Arab The group split into two close family ties to Palestin-
You read that correctly. last year. communities. branches in 1996 over the ians in the West Bank and
question of whether to par- Gaza and largely identify with
Tuesday's elections have left If so, he succeeded, convinc- In an interview with Army ticipate in politics. the Palestinian cause. That
a razor-thin margin between ing Mansour Abbas, the lead- Radio on Wednesday, Abbas has led many Israeli Jews to
a right-wing coalition led by er of the United Arab List, to reiterated that he did not rule The more radical northern view them with suspicion,
Prime Minister Benjamin run a separate list. Now Ab- out joining either side and branch, led by the firebrand something Netanyahu and
Netanyahu and a diverse ar- bas appears to hold the keys hinted at bolder ambitions. cleric Raed Salah, rejects par- other right-wing leaders have
ray of parties bent on ousting to the kingdom. “We want to use not only par- ticipation in Israeli politics capitalized on in previous
him. Israelis vote for party lists liamentary tools, but Cabinet and has been accused of hav- elections.
rather than individual can- tools to accomplish things for ing close ties to Hamas, the
To prevail, each side may didates, and seats are ap- the benefit of Arab society,” Palestinian militant group Ahead of polls in 2015, Ne-
need the support of an Arab portioned out based on the he said. that also emerged from the tanyahu drew criticism af-
Islamist party that appears to percentage of votes received. Muslim Brotherhood. Salah ter warning his supporters
have clinched just five seats No single party has ever won That may be difficult to pull has been arrested on a num- that Arabs were voting “in
in the 120-member Knesset a 61-seat majority, so larger off. Netanyahu's coalition ber of occasions, and is cur- droves.” In 2019 he pushed
but is not committed to ei- parties must assemble gov- would also have to include rently in jail after being con- for the placement of observ-
ther, according to near-final erning coalitions — often the Religious Zionist Party, victed of inciting terrorism. ers and cameras at polling
results. with fringe parties. whose leading candidates Israel outlawed his group in stations in Arab areas, which
are openly racist. The differ- 2015, accusing it of inciting critics said was an attempt to
That means the United Arab With around 88% of votes ences between Abbas and the violence. intimidate voters.
List, known by the Hebrew counted, Netanyahu and his far-right group would be dif-
name Ra'am, could decide natural allies, and the bloc ficult to bridge. The southern branch, to It remains to be seen whether
whether Netanyahu, Israel's opposing him, each lack a 61- which Abbas belongs, has those remarks will come back
longest-serving prime minis- seat majority in the Knesset. In a TV interview Wednes- adopted a conciliatory stance to haunt him.
ter, remains in office. day, Abbas said the Religious toward Israel and is focused
Unless another party decides Zionists were “not the ad- more on socio-economic is- Another victory would ex-
It's an odd predicament for to switch sides, each would dress” for solving the politi- sues than the conflict with tend his 12 years in power
Netanyahu, who rose to need Abbas' support to form cal standoff. the Palestinians. It has allied — already the longest in Is-
power by rejecting compro- a government and avoid yet with secular and left-wing raeli history. Defeat would
mise with the Palestinians another round of elections. There's also a chance that Arab parties in past elections, likely mean the end of his
and has used racist rhetoric Naftali Bennett, a right-wing but has broken with them on political career and leave him
in past campaigns to cast the Unlike other Arab lead- leader who also remains un- issues related to its religious increasingly vulnerable to
country's Arab minority as a ers, Abbas has not ruled out committed, throws his sup- conservatism, such as sup- prosecution and potentially
fifth column of terrorist sym- working with the Likud or port behind the anti-Ne- port for LGBTQ rights. jail time as his trial on cor-
pathizers. other right-wing parties if tanyahu bloc. In that case, it ruption charges proceeds.
he can secure gains for the could dispense with the UAL Arabs make up around 20% Or the country could plunge
This time, however, in Is- Arab community, which faces if it maintained the support of Israel's population of 9.3 into another election cam-
rael's fourth elections in two widespread discrimination, of the larger Arab Joint List. million. They have citizen- paign, prolonging two years
years, Netanyahu sought mounting poverty amid the Netanyahu could also poten- ship, speak fluent Hebrew of deadlock.
Arab support in what many coronavirus pandemic and a tially form a coalition with- and are well-represented in

UK, US impose sanctions targeting Myanmar military business

( AP ) - The U.K. and the The measures will prohibit government imposed on nine
United States are impos- funds being made available members of Myanmar's mili-
ing further sanctions over to any subsidiaries owned or tary leadership last month.
human rights violations controlled by the company.
in Myanmar, Britain's top Authorities have arrested
diplomat said Thursday. The Foreign Office said the thousands of protesters as
move was in response to evi- part of an increasingly bru-
Foreign Secretary Dominic dence that the conglomerate tal crackdown since the Feb.
Raab said the measures target contributed funds to support 1 coup that ousted Myan-
military-owned conglom- the country’s armed forces mar's elected government led
erate Myanmar Economic in their campaign of ethnic by Aung San Suu Kyi. On
Holdings Ltd. for its in- cleansing against the Rohing- Wednesday, more than 600
volvement in serious abuses ya in 2017. demonstrators were released,
against the country's Rohing- a rare conciliatory gesture by
ya minority and for its asso- Thursday's announcement the military that appeared
ciation with senior military followed asset freezes and aimed at placating the protest
figures. travel bans that the British movement.