Haaretz Election Podcast • 'Israel's opposition must join with Arab parties. It's the right thing to do'

total-- : --time0:0004:09 PM • July 06 2026 IDTUnless something dramatic changes, the upcoming Israeli election will either end in a deadlock or a bold move to "get rid of the foolish self‑imposed arbitrary constraint of not forming coalitions with Arab parties," political strategist and Haaretz columnist Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin said on the Haaretz Podcast.With neither the pro-Netanyahu bloc nor the opposition parties coming close to the 61 Knesset seats they would need to take power, Scheindlin said that the Jewish Zionist Israeli parties – likely in the opposition – will be pushed to do what she believes is the right thing."Of course, there should be Arab parties in a governing coalition. They are 20 percent of the population. There should be no ban on parties that represent citizens of this country," Scheindlin said.In the roundtable discussion with Haaretz correspondent Linda Dayan and host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Scheindlin discussed the new iterations of veteran parties on the center right and the left, vying for the voters who would like to see Netanyahu replaced – including those who previously voted for the prime minister and hold center-right viewsThese parties, Dayan said, are branding themselves as the "sane right" or the "non-schmuck right." Their main differences with Netanyahu and his ruling coalition come down to drafting ultra-Orthodox young men to the army – and the government's refusal to create a commission of inquiry on the events of October 7.Dayan also discussed the phenomenon of family members of former hostages throwing their hats in the ring on "every side of the political spectrum."In the News'Israel's Opposition Must Join With Arab Parties. It's the Right Thing to Do'Despite Top Court Order, Coalition Yet to Schedule Revote on State WatchdogHow an Abandoned Jerusalem Airport Embodies Netanyahu's Bleak Vision for IsraelAs Israel Lacks Hundreds of Patrol Officers, West Bank Staff DoublesIran Is Smartly Using the Palestinians, and Only Israel Can Stop ItRemembering and rebuilding two years laterICYMIIsrael 2026 Election Poll Tracker: The Latest ProjectionsIsrael Has Long Ignored Warnings of a 'Diplomatic Tsunami.' Now It Has ArrivedAn Israeli Principal Desegregated a Tel Aviv School. Here's What HappenedDumber Than a 10-year-old: Are Israeli Students Really That Stupid?103 Nails on the Map: How Israel's Government Is Burying the Two-state SolutionRep. Dan Goldman Says Support for Israel Cost Him New York Democratic Primary