Joint List
Electoral alliance of Arab-majority parties in Israel, formed in 2015 and revived in 2026
| Joint List
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|---|---|
| Logo | .jpg) Joint List members of the Knesset submitting the list for the 22nd Knesset election, August 2019. Photograph: Zaher333, CC BY-SA 4.0. |
| Type | Political alliance (Knesset electoral list) |
| Founded | 22 January 2015 |
| Founder(s) | Hadash, Balad, Ta'al and the United Arab List (Ra'am) |
| Location | Israel |
| Area served | Israel |
| Services | Joint candidate list for Knesset elections (13 seats in 2015, 13 in September 2019, 15 in March 2020, 6 in 2021 and 11 in 2026) |
| Key people | Ayman Odeh; Ahmad Tibi; Yousef Jabareen (heads the 2026 list); Sami Abu Shehadeh (Balad) |
| Remarks | Known in some English-language reports as the Joint Arab List. Ra'am left the alliance before the 2021 election and ran separately in 2026. |
The Joint List (Hebrew: HaReshima HaMeshutefet; also called the Joint Arab List) is an electoral alliance of Arab-majority parties in Israel. It was formed shortly before the March 2015 Knesset election, combining the three Arab parties Balad, Ta'al and the United Arab List (Ra'am) with the Arab-Jewish party Hadash, after Israel raised the electoral threshold from 2 per cent to 3.25 per cent in 2014.[1][2] It won 13 seats in 2015, split before the April 2019 election, reunited for September 2019 and March 2020 (winning 15 seats in 2020), lost Ra'am before the 2021 election, and was revived by Hadash, Ta'al and Balad in August 2026, winning 11 seats in the election of 27 October 2026.[1][3]
Formation in 2015
Balad and Ra'am-Ta'al signed a unity deal with Hadash and the Islamic Movement on the night of 22 January 2015, to run on one ticket in the March election. The Times of Israel reported that the list would be headed by Ayman Odeh, a Haifa lawyer and political newcomer who had been elected leader of Hadash days earlier, followed by Masud Ghnaim (Ra'am-Ta'al) and Jamal Zahalka (Balad); Ahmad Tibi (Ra'am-Ta'al) took the fourth slot. Hanin Zoabi (Balad) was placed seventh and Dov Khenin of Hadash eighth.[4] The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported the list as formed the following day and noted that the parties joined because they feared that running separately they could fall short of the new threshold.[2]
The list ran a Hebrew-language campaign alongside its Arabic one. Re'ut Mor, its Hebrew-language spokeswoman, told The Jerusalem Post in February 2015 that the aim was to keep and if possible increase the Jewish vote that Hadash had attracted.[5]
Member parties
| Party | Description in the sources | Joint List membership |
|---|---|---|
| Hadash | Arab-Jewish socialist party; its leader headed the 2015 list[2] | 2015; September 2019–2021; 2026 |
| Balad | Secular Arab party, described in 2026 as representing pan-Arab nationalism[2][6] | 2015; September 2019–2021; 2026 |
| Ta'al | Arab party, described in 2026 as promoting Arab civic rights and equality[6] | 2015; September 2019–2021; 2026 |
| United Arab List (Ra'am) | Joined in 2015 as Ra'am-Ta'al and the Islamic Movement; left the alliance before the 2021 election; ran separately in 2026 under Mansour Abbas[1][3] | 2015; September 2019; March 2020 |
Election results
| Election | Votes | Seats | Share of valid votes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 (17 March) | 446,583 | 13 | 10.6% |
| September 2019 | 470,211 | 13 | 10.6% |
| March 2020 | 581,507 | 15 | 12.7% |
| 2021 | 212,583 | 6 | 4.8% |
| 2026 (27 October) | 500,755 | 11 | 8.8% |
The table follows the Israel Democracy Institute's record of the list's results.[1] The institute notes that internal struggles broke the alliance up ahead of the April 2019 election, and that Ra'am left it before 2021. It has no entry for the 2022 election.[1] The New Arab says the alliance fell apart after its record result in 2020.[3]
The 2026 election
In August 2026 Hadash, Ta'al and Balad revived the Joint List under Yousef Jabareen, while Ra'am under Mansour Abbas ran separately to keep its freedom to join a coalition; the two lists signed a surplus-vote agreement.[3] On 23 September the Central Elections Committee voted 18 to 5 to bar the Joint List, Ra'am and the Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh from the ballot; the lists appealed to the Supreme Court and were allowed to run, although Abu Shehadeh withdrew from the race.[3][6] The Joint List won 11 seats and Ra'am 8, a combined 19 seats, with Arab turnout reported at about 80 per cent against 53.2 per cent in 2022.[3][6]
After the vote, Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on X that the election had been "stolen by Arab parties that support terrorism", and members of Likud alleged fraud and foreign interference.[6] The New Arab reported that on election day the head of the Shin Bet, David Zini, described the vote as secure and police said they had no evidence supporting the Likud allegations, but that two days later the Central Elections Committee's chairman, Justice Noam Sohlberg, ordered the Shin Bet to investigate suspected foreign funding behind the Arab turnout.[3] At a press conference with the attorney general and the Shin Bet chief, Sohlberg said the investigation was serious and ongoing but would not change the results.[6]
Shin Bet monitoring
In June 2015 the Shin Bet questioned the Joint List's media consultant Re'ut Mor about an upcoming Gaza flotilla and about her views on Zionism, the army and the boycott movement; Haaretz described her as a media consultant for the "Joint Arab List".[7]
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Israel Democracy Institute, The Joint List Israel Democracy Institute, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Israel's Arab parties form joint Knesset slate JTA, 25 January 2015, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Monjed Jadou, How a record Palestinian vote has unsettled Israeli politics The New Arab, 3 November 2026, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ Lazar Berman, Arab parties finalize unity deal The Times of Israel, 22 January 2015, archived 26 January 2015, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ Ariel Ben Solomon, 'Nonpartisan' campaign launched to increase Israeli-Arab voter turnout The Jerusalem Post, 23 February 2015, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Ruth Eglash, Israel's Arab parties hold key to coalition if Israel's leaders accept them The Jerusalem Post (JTA), 2 November 2026, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ Gili Cohen, Israel's Military Intelligence Monitoring Dozens of BDS Groups Around the World Haaretz, 18 August 2015, archived at archive.ph/pIjXP, accessed 9 November 2026.