Can Israeli Arabs settle political score with Netanyahu?

At the Ynet studios on Feb. 27, a week before elections in Israel, Joint List Chairman Ayman Odeh found himself in a heated discussion with Culture Minister Miri Regev over the Likud campaign’s attempt to delegitimize the country’s Arab Knesset members. Amid the hurled accusations, Odeh told her, “You [the Likud] won’t remain in power, and that will be because of the Joint List. You’re all corrupt! We’re sick of you!”

With the votes now tallied, it looks like Odeh might be vindicated. The Joint List won 15 seats, while the right-wing/ultra-Orthodox bloc walked away with 58 seats, three short of the 61 needed for a majority. In other words, for the moment, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not have enough seats to form a government that could extricate him from his impending trial on corruption charges.