Talk:United Arab List

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> Even though Arabs comprise 18 percent of Israel's population the United Arab list could only > secure 2 out of 120 seats in the knesset (less than 2%). Can someone explain why that is?

- This is an ambiguous statement. Firstly, in the elections for the 2006 Knesset they won 4 seats, not two as is stated here or three as is stated in the article. As for why they didn't win 18% of the vote there are three reasons: 1. There are three major Arab parties: Islamist-nationalist Ra'am (United Arab List), nationalist Balad and Communist Hadash. Balad and Hadash each won 3 seats in the 2006 elections. In 2006 there were two smaller Arab parties (notably Da'am) which ran and did not even come close to passing the 2% threshhold needed to get any seats in the Knesset. 2. Some Arabs also vote for Zionist parties, especially Labour and Meretz and for the Haredi party Shas. 3. Some Arab factions in Israel such as the extreme Northern Faction of Islamist Movement boycott the elections and voter turnout in the Arab sector can sometimes be low. Hope that answers your question.

Also.... a significant part of the Arab population is under the voting age of 18.