For Heaven’s Sake – “Arabs in the Coalition?”
Host: Shalom Hartman Institute (Donniel Hartman & Yossi Klein Halevi)
Date: November 26, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode delves into the complexities and challenges of integrating Arab (specifically, Israeli Arab Palestinian) parties into Israel's governing coalition. Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi explore the historic breakthrough of Mansour Abbas and the Ra’am party’s participation in coalition-building, the evolving Israeli political landscape post-October 7, and the deeper societal and emotional barriers that persist despite significant gestures from Arab-Israeli leaders. With typical candor and depth, the hosts discuss issues of loyalty, identity, trauma, and what it would take for true partnership in Israel’s democracy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Israel’s Political Stalemate & the “Coalition Solution”

• Israeli politics since the ceasefire are deadlocked; neither the pro- nor anti-Netanyahu blocs can form a stable coalition without crossing previous political red lines. (03:10–04:20)
• The precedent of including Mansour Abbas’ Ra’am party in a previous government opens the conversation on the possibility and resistance to including Arab-Israeli parties more broadly.
• Even as Ra’am’s participation is praised by coalition partners across the spectrum, a deeply entrenched reluctance persists to make Arab parties regular coalition partners.

2. Mansour Abbas: An “Extraordinary Phenomenon”

• Yossi and Donniel detail Abbas’ willingness to accept Israel as the “homeland of the Jewish people” while emphasizing minority rights (05:45–08:10).
• Abbas’ political approach is rooted in religious dialogue, drawing on interfaith experiences. His politics are described as “the politics of interfaith” (10:37), unusual and underappreciated in Israel.
• Memorable moment: “He said, you've never related to me with love. Wow.” (07:50, Yossi), reflecting Abbas’s candid frustration and desire for partnership.

3. The Litmus Test & The “Dual Loyalty” Anxiety

• The Israeli Jewish public fears dual loyalty among Arab citizens, making full acceptance difficult—even when ostensible tests of loyalty are passed.
  • Donniel likens the treatment of Israeli Arabs to anti-Semitic suspicions Jews historically faced in the diaspora (12:54–16:19).
  • Quote: “We're basically attacking them in a way that we were attacked for most of our history.” (16:15, Donniel)
• Emotional and political “litmus tests” often function to exclude, rather than to find common ground (11:00–12:15, 28:33–29:02).

4. Identity Complexity: More Complicated than Diaspora Jewry

• Yossi: “I actually think that there is no more complicated identity on planet Earth than to be a Palestinian Israeli.” (16:19)
• The hosts examine the simultaneous majority/minority dynamics of Jews and Arab Israelis, and how these further complicate this relationship (17:10–18:50).
• Despite fears, polling shows the vast majority of Arab Israelis prefer to remain citizens of Israel (19:13).

5. Historical Realities vs. Deep-Seated Fears

• Arab Israelis have never acted as a “fifth column” even during wars—anxieties about their loyalty have never materialized (22:49–23:20).
• Day-to-day contact (e.g., in hospitals) demonstrates often positive, even intimate, relationships, but broader political trust remains elusive (23:23–24:29).

6. Obstacles within and outside Ra’am

• The Jewish right systematically delegitimized Bennett’s government for cooperating with Ra’am, despite Netanyahu himself courting Abbas for coalition support (24:57–26:02).
• Challenges persist within Ra’am, as not all members have adopted Abbas's stance of full acceptance of the Jewish state (26:02–28:14).
• Yossi: “It took 30 years to get from Sheikh Abdallah Dawish to Mansour Abbas... that process will happen only by including them in the power structure.” (27:13)

7. Post-Trauma & Shrinking of “Conceptual Israeliness”

• Warfare and October 7th shrink the societal imagination of who can be included in “us.” Donniel laments Israeli society “underperforming from its trauma” (29:30).
  • Quote: “This umbrella, which we think is this get out of jail card for all moral mediocrity, is... beneath us.” (30:09, Donniel)

8. Concrete Steps Forward

• Yossi urges, as a first priority, reconfiguring the relationship of police to the Arab minority:
  • Ending police suppression of political expression
  • Addressing rampant crime and underpolicing in Arab communities (30:51–32:35)
• A genuine answer to exclusion and mutual anxiety is “process” and incremental inclusion.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Jewish-Arab partnership:

  “His whole politics was something we've never experienced in this country before. It was the politics of interfaith.”
  — Yossi Klein Halevi, 10:40

• On Abbas’s plea for acceptance:

  “You want to get me killed? … You've never related to me with love.”
  — Mansour Abbas (quoted by Yossi), 07:45

• On dual loyalty:

  “We're basically attacking them in a way that we were attacked for most of our history.”
  — Donniel Hartman, 16:15

• On identity complexity:

  “There is no more complicated identity on planet Earth than to be a Palestinian Israeli.”
  — Yossi Klein Halevi, 16:19

• On incremental inclusion:

  “That process will happen only by including them in the power structure.”
  — Yossi Klein Halevi, 27:13

• On the community’s contribution:

  “The Israeli Arab Palestinian is a loyal citizen or at the very minimum, a law abiding citizen of the state of Israel… Dayenu, that’s enough.”
  — Donniel Hartman, 33:23–33:36

Timestamps for Critical Segments

• 00:10–04:15: Israeli coalition deadlock; history of Arab party participation.
• 05:45–10:35: Profile and perspective of Mansour Abbas.
• 10:37–13:00: Challenges of interfaith, dual loyalties, litmus tests.
• 16:19–19:38: Identity complications, minority/majority perspectives.
• 22:49–24:39: Myths of the “fifth column” and the reality of Arab loyalty.
• 24:57–28:14: Politicization of Abbas’s participation; internal party challenges.
• 30:51–32:35: Recommendations for next steps—police reform and incremental inclusion.

Flow & Tone

The discussion maintains a reflective, candid, and deeply personal tone—balancing analytical detachment with their own emotional investment in the future of Israeli democracy. Both Donniel and Yossi express frustration with the stagnation of political and societal progress, while remaining hopeful, prescribing steps for gradual transformation and advocating for moral clarity.

Takeaways for New Listeners

• The episode offers a rare window into the self-critical, searching discourse within Israeli society about the real obstacles to Jewish-Arab civic partnership.
• The hosts emphasize that inclusion must be substantive, overcoming inherited suspicion—something that can't be forced, but must be worked toward by both structural and attitudinal change.
• Despite setbacks and political opportunism, signals of hope are visible in Jewish-Arab cooperation and shared civic life; the challenge is to grow these into meaningful, sustained partnership—“for heaven’s sake.”