Letters to the Editor: To achieve unity, Israel should work toward integration rather than segregation

To the editor: If Israel is to achieve genuine national unity, the path forward lies in political integration rather than sectarian isolation (“If Israeli politics were rational, Arab parties would now be holding all the cards,” Oct. 30). Today, Arab citizens participate meaningfully in every walk of Israeli life — serving with distinction as doctors, judges, scientists, teachers and parliamentarians. Yet, maintaining separate Arab political parties hinders full civic integration and fuels deep security concerns among Jewish Israelis.

When political groups operate outside mainstream parties under pragmatic banners, it evokes historical suspicions of a hudna — a temporary truce — raising fears of an internal “fifth column” waiting for a shift in the strategic balance. Operating separately only exacerbates these anxieties. True integration means working together within shared institutions.

Just as there is no single “Jewish party,” Arab citizens should join, shape and lead within mainstream parties across the entire political spectrum. By building shared political homes, Israelis of all backgrounds can address daily domestic needs while cementing mutual trust in the state’s security and future.

Nahum Gat, Manhattan Beach

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To the editor: On Wednesday, it will be 31 years since Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. I remember the horror of hearing that a fellow Jew murdered him. To borrow from “Star Wars,” I felt a disturbance in the Force.

This election has caused a disturbance in the Force as well. But this time, it comes with the possibility of rectification, not destruction. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reign of fear and hatred has been halted, and there is a tiny glimmer of hope.

When Rabin was assassinated, the possibility of peace appeared to die with him. Today, Israel stands again at a karmic crossroads and has a window of opportunity to change its political and social future. But it will need the courage and vision of a Yitzhak Rabin — and, maybe, a little divine inspiration.

Evelyn Baran, Beverly Hills

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To the editor: The idea that Israel’s Jewish opposition parties can join forces with Arab parties to remove Netanyahu overlooks fundamental disagreements that make such a coalition difficult to form, let alone sustain. The obstacles are more complicated than accusations of racial exclusion suggest.

Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot’s conditions for joining his coalition include universal military or civilian service as well as recognizing Hamas as a terrorist organization whose capabilities must be dismantled. These demands apply to the Arab parties (Joint List and Ra’am) and the ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties alike, who also reject his service requirement.

The Joint List rejects compulsory service, and its leaders have declined to call Hamas a terrorist organization. It also refuses to join Eisenkot’s government, offering only support from outside the coalition. Ra’am is different. Its leader, Mansour Abbas, joined Naftali Bennett’s coalition in 2021 and wants to govern again. He even placed a Jewish Zionist, Yoav Segalovitz, on his electoral ticket. Yet Abbas, despite condemning Oct. 7, has resisted labeling Hamas a terrorist organization.

The disagreements between these parties are fundamental, touching on national security and the obligations of citizenship, not simply the ethnic makeup of their members. Even Arab parties disagree among themselves on these issues. Reducing these disputes to racism and prejudice overlooks the realities of coalition-making in Israeli politics.

Ahmad Sharawi, Washington, D.C.
This writer is a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a nonprofit research institute focusing on foreign policy and national security.