The Ta’al Party, one of the factions that make up the predominantly Arab Joint List Party, on Sunday evening held a meeting described as "crucial" on the question of whether to run in the November elections as part of the Joint List or as an independent party.
In an interview with Nasradio on Sunday, MK Osama Saadi (Ta'al) said that his decision this weekend not to run in the upcoming elections is final and is not a political maneuver.
Saadi stated that the motive for his decision is the assessment that Ta’al is heading towards an abyss politically and was meant to send a message to all the parties that make up the Joint List to work towards unity in order to increase the voter turnout in the Arab sector and to focus on the most important issues, which are violence, crime and the demolition of houses.
He expressed disappointment with the negotiations within the framework of the Joint List and called on all Arab parties to show responsibility and unite the ranks because this is the desire of the Arab public which, without unity, may vote in a smaller proportion.
On Saturday, MK Samy Abu Shahadeh, chairman of the Balad faction of the Joint List, announced that his party still intends to run independently from the rest of the Joint List, but that he is still holding negotiations with the party's other factions.
Balad, Ta'al, Hadash, and Ra'am at one point ran together as the Joint Arab List. Ra'am then split from the other three parties to run independently. In 2021, it became part of Israel's coalition.