Dr. Arik Rudnitzky

The political mainstream in Arab society identifies with the Palestinian cause, namely the struggle for a two-state solution and peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The vast majority of Arab citizens strongly criticizes Hamas’ practices and completely rejects Hamas’ militant approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Arab politics in Israel consists of two interconnected levels: One relates to the configuration of the parties ahead of the elections; the other – to Arab voting behavior on Election Day. Election results in Arab society depend on the interaction between these two levels.

This review analyzes voting patterns among Arab citizens in the elections for the 25th Knesset, held on November 1, 2022. The graphs and tables are based on an analysis of the final results, as published by the Central Elections Committee.

Dr. Arik Rudnitzky breaks down the Arab vote to the 25th Knesset elections – it seems that Ra’am's gamble paid off and they emerged the big winner.

Will the Arab public’s belief in Knesset elections in general, and in the Arab political lists in particular, will be strengthened. The Arab voter may overcome unjust policies by the government, but not internal crises. Dr. Rudnitzky reviews the main political and ideological streams in Arab society in Israel, ahead of the November 2022 elections

Diplomatic briefing with IDI President Yohanan Plesner and Researcher Dr. Arik Rudnitzky on Israel’s fifth national elections in less than four years. The briefing focused on the electoral crisis, the state of Israeli democracy as well as the latest developments regarding the political parties and voting patterns of Arab Israelis.

Arab society in Israel is being revolutionized by the rise in the standard of living, life expectancy and education, along with the decline in fertility rates, changes to family structures, and an increasing desire to realize individual aspirations at the expense of collective values.

Richard Pater from Bicom and IDI expert Dr. Arik Rudnitzky discuss the social, political and economic situation of the Arab citizenry in Israel - economic programs in the new budget for the Arab sector, the current situation over the military draft for young Arabs, government actions to tackle the level of crime in Arab towns, as well as the political dynamics between the United Arab List (in government) and the Joint Arab List (in opposition).

The recent elections proved, once again—especially against the backdrop of the Joint List’s meteoric success a year ago—the weakness of the parties’ base on the Arab street.

Dr Arik Rudnitzky analyzes the changing voting patterns in the Arab community ahead of Israel’s fourth general election in two years.

Arab Israelis want to see their representatives in the Knesset and are willing to go out to vote to ensure this happens. Kafr Qassem could be the test case for the larger Arab community who are more likely to vote if they feel that their Knesset members are representing them faithfully.

The people had their say in these elections. A majority of the Arab Israeli public (65%) turned out to proclaim a resounding vote of confidence in the Joint List

Has the "Deal of the Century" injected energy into Israel's third election and perhaps provided an incentive for Arab Israelis to turn out in higher numbers than September? Arik Rudnitzky uses the village of Bartaa as a possible case study.

Arab parties can surge if they shake off the old politics - a significant number of Arabs who stayed home in April will vote if they are persuaded their leaders have integrity

The real story of the April 2019 elections took place outside the polling booth. In the Arab sector, the Movement to Boycott the Knesset Elections, a grassroots group based on Arab young adults and university students, working on the social networks with a shoestring budget, conducted an effective campaign with a simple and catchy slogan: “Boycott: The People’s Will.” This message stood in utter contradiction to the motto of the elections in 2015: “The Joint List: The People’s Will.”

Will Arab politicians take advantage of the second chance that the new elections have presented? Runing in a Joint List and reaching out to their younger voters - 60% of which didn't vote in the last election, would be the right place to start.

Arab turnout for the vote was the lowest in a decade – only 49% participated in the elections for the 21^st Knesset – Arik Rudnitzky summarizes

After abysmal Arab voter turnout, it’s time for public action. Arabs in Israel are desperate for a new discourse and leaders who connect with them -- what they don't want is more ideology

Will Arab elected officials adopt a pragmatic and matter-of-fact approach and overcome the obstacles standing in the way of establishing political partnerships among them, in order to encourage Arab voters to go to the polls on Election Day?

The fifth in a series of articles and videos prepared by the Israel Democracy Institute in the run-up to April 9, explaining and critiquing what goes on during an election period

A review of political and ideological streams in Arab society in Israel - towards 2019 elections.