Hamas and the Gaza Strip Become the Major Electoral Issues in Israel

Sergio Yahni, Alternative Information Center

The three major political parties in Israel, Likud, Kadima and Labor, published their lists of candidates for the 10 February parliamentary elections as the political platforms of the parties toward the elections begins to be clearer.
As the elections approach, it is difficult to find significant ideological differences among the major actors.

All three major political parties have marginalized Palestinian citizens of Israel in their list of candidates for the Knesset. Furthermore, women, new immigrants and Jews of non-European origin are under-represented in the electoral lists. Among the first 20 candidates, the Likud included four women, three non-European Jews and two new immigrants. Kadima included five women, seven non-European Jews and three new immigrants.

Among the three major parties, only the Labor Party included non-Jews among the first 20 candidates—Ghaleb Majadlah and Shakhib Shanaan in the 15th and 16th place of the list respectively. According to the latest polls, at least one of them, Ghaleb Majadlah, has some chance of being elected. The Labor party is also the party with the highest rate of Jews of non-European descent in their lists, but they, as well as women and new immigrants, are still under-represented. However, the relatively larger representation of minorities in the party list does not amount to a representative political agenda. read more