ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the process of Jewish-Israeli recognition, acceptance, and legitimacy toward including an Arab party, Ra’am, in the Israeli government coalition as well as the gradual change within Arab politics toward legitimizing the government and toward a willingness to be included in its coalition. The chapter begins with addressing the roots of the lack of political legitimacy on both sides of the divide. We then discuss the shift from alienation of the Arab parties toward legitimacy and conclude by portraying the social and political changes in Israel in general, and in the Arab sector in particular, which occurred during the second decade of the 21st century. These changes include: a gradual shift toward integrating Arabs in various spheres of life in Israel; the growing tendency of the Arab public to prioritize civic demands over national aspirations; and the desire to move away from the margins of politics to the center, while demanding their leaders to take part in executive decision-making; and the political rift in Israeli (mainly Jewish) politics between the pro- and anti-Netanyahu blocks leads to an inability to form a coalition based on predominantly Jewish parties.
