The Arab community in Israel is increasingly aware that “their” politicians and parties prefer supporting Arab dictators and making crazy pronouncements to doing practical work to help their people live better lives; Arab MKs’ friendly relationships with Qaddafi and Assad have been particularly frustrating for Israeli Arabs now that the Arab Spring has ripped the masks off the Arab dictators and even the Arab street sees them for the psychopaths that they are.

You also fail to note that Arab groups in Israel are highly fragmented. Simply papering over the enormous differences between the various groups by calling them “Arabs” does a disservice to your readers. Christian Arabs – highly educated, often successful, and frequent supporters of mainstream Israeli parties – are experiencing hostility and pressure from Muslim Arabs. Bedouin Arabs (north and south – there are differences) see the Israeli state very differently from other Arab groups. The Islamic Movement (actually, there are two Islamic Movements) boycots elections, but then it is also fundamentally anti-democratic. Arab parties have sabotaged themselves not only by being anti-Israel and pro-dictator but also by playing the very Israeli game of creating lots of tiny parties based on personalities. And tiny parties are of little value in coalitions, particularly if they insist on supporting unrepentant terrorists.

Then there are the Israeli Druze – who speak Arabic and are the cousins of the Druze in Lebanon and Syria, but are not typically classified as “Arab Israelis”. The Druze often very patriotic; as a community, they requested decades ago to be included in the military draft. They typically vote for mainstream Israeli parties.

You also fail to note that there are a very large number of parties (including Arab-centric or leftist parties) in Israel. UAL-Ta’al is about #6 in Israel (4% of the vote). Hadash is #8 (3% of the vote). Balad has about 2.5% of the vote. Daam is hopeless, with about 0.1% of the vote; forget about them. Anyone who wants to vote for workers’ parties has much more likely choices, much closer to the front of the pack. Daam only won about 2,600 votes last time around. Trying to make sense of Israeli politics by talking to Da’am is like trying to make sense of American politics by talking to the Socialist Action Party in the United States. They aren’t the next wave of anything; they’re a footnote.