Israeli Minister of Transportation Merav Michaeli (Labor) this week pandered to Arab voters ahead of next week’s national election by invoking “Allah” against her most hated political opponent.
Playing on accusations that far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir (Religious Zionism Party) is an anti-Arab racist, Michaeli told a local Arabic-language television channel:
“May Allah prevent Ben Gvir from being appointed as a minister in the next government.”
She also thanked “Allah” for the completion of major transportation projects during her time in office.
Michaeli is a non-religious ultra-progressive liberal.
But she’s not the only one sounding an alarm over the possibility of Ben Gvir holding a senior ministerial position should Benjamin Netanyahu win the upcoming election.
Recently a pair of US congressmen warned Netanyahu that including Ben Gvir in the next government could damage US-Israel relations.
See: Americans Prefer Arab Extremists to Jewish Ones in Israeli Governments
Ben Gvir, meanwhile, is doing his best to demonstrate that while he is an ultra-nationalist Jew, that doesn’t mean he hates Arabs.
In a new Arabic-language campaign with just a week to go before the vote, Ben Gvir is looking to make inroads with Arab electorate by promising to curb the violence in their communities.
Arab-on-Arab violence in Israel has claimed the lives of dozens this year alone, and officials have decried the proliferation of illegal weapons in Arab towns. At the same time, police officials and their government overseers are afraid of acting against the phenomenon with too heavy a hand because it could be seen as a racist crackdown and fuel charges of “apartheid.”
Ben Gvir signaled that he doesn’t care what others might say. He just wants to end the bloodshed.
“You (Arabs) should vote for me because I will bring law and order to your streets. You deserve law and order in your towns. You deserve to walk through your neighborhoods and attend weddings without fear of gun violence,” he told an Arab journalist last week.
