The leaders of the Arab parties signed on Thursday evening, at an event in Sakhnin, a commitment document to work toward re-establishing the Joint List ahead of the next elections. However, no final agreement has been reached on the actual formation of the slate.
The document was signed by Ta’al chairman Ahmed Tibi, Hadash chairman Ayman Odeh, Balad chairman Samy Abu Shahadeh, and Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas - the leaders of the four parties that previously made up the Joint List.
The Joint List was originally established in 2015, bringing together Hadash, Ta’al, Ra’am, and Balad. At its peak in the 2020 elections, it won 15 seats - a record achievement for Arab party representation in the Knesset.
In 2021, Ra’am left the list and ran independently, later joining the Bennett-Lapid government. In the 2022 elections, the list split completely, with Balad also running alone, but failing to pass the electoral threshold.
Currently, Arab representation in the Knesset stands at nine MKs: five from Hadash-Ta’al and four from Ra’am.