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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Asharq Al-Awsat

Israel's Arab Parties Unite to Make Gains in Elections

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his Jerusalem office December 2, 2018. Gali Tibbon/Pool via REUTERS

Israel's four Arab political parties have announced a merger ahead of September elections, hoping to boost turnout among Palestinians, which make up a fifth of Israel's population.

Ayman Odeh, head of the Hadash party, said Monday that now that the parties have reunited as Joint List, they can address the "great challenge" facing the Palestinians of 1948.

The four factions first united in 2015, earning 13 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. But infighting later split the Joint List into two parties, which only won a combined 10 seats amid low Palestinian turnout in April's election.

Israel faces an unprecedented repeat election in September after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a majority coalition government.

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