ACT organises a dialogue seminar on joint Arab–Jewish parties, the Israeli elections and the prospects for political solutions
ACT for Conflict Resolution organised a dialogue seminar entitled “Joint Arab–Jewish Parties, the Israeli Elections and the Prospects for Political Solutions”, with more than 15 participants drawn from researchers and people engaged with political and community affairs. The seminar was held as part of the organisation’s efforts to provide spaces for dialogue and discussion on current political issues, their implications for society, and the prospects for political solutions.
Taking part in the seminar were the lawyer Mohammad Yahya, Secretary-General of the All Its Citizens party, and Dr Rula Hardal, Director General of A Land for All, while Esmat Mansour moderated the discussion. The interventions addressed a number of issues connected to current political shifts, the future of Arab political action, and the nature and prospects of Arab–Jewish partnerships.
The seminar came against a backdrop of rapid political change, and ahead of the Israeli general elections scheduled for October 2026, together with the accompanying debate on the future of the Arab parties, the possibility of re-forming the Joint List, and the role of Arab–Jewish alliances in the coming political landscape.
Participants discussed a number of themes, most notably the situation of the Arab parties, the prospects for re-forming the Joint List, the nature of Arab–Jewish partnerships, and the extent of these alliances’ influence on the elections and on political decision-making.
The discussion also addressed the challenges facing joint political action, including differences in political programmes and priorities, set against the opportunities that unifying political efforts could create for strengthening representation, participation and influence. Participants stressed the importance of drawing on previous electoral experiences in assessing and developing the prospects for joint political action.
The interventions affirmed that dialogue constitutes an important space for understanding differences and building common ground, and that developing sustainable forms of political partnership requires strengthening the values of equality, rights and respect for pluralism, alongside widening participation to include young people, researchers and civil society organisations.
The discussion further concluded that it is important to continue researching political shifts within Israel and to read the coming elections in a broader context that goes beyond the electoral event itself, given their potential impact on the nature of the political landscape and on relations between its different components, and on the prominence of issues of citizenship, equality, and political and social rights.
At the close of the seminar, participants stressed the importance of continuing objective dialogue and discussion, strengthening knowledge and research, and creating spaces that bring different points of view together, so as to contribute to a more comprehensive reading of political shifts and to open the way for exploring new possibilities and paths for political and peaceful solutions.
This seminar forms part of the efforts of ACT for Conflict Resolution to strengthen a culture of dialogue, pluralism and civil peace, to open spaces for dialogue on current political and social issues, and to encourage knowledge-based discussion and the search for alternatives and peaceful paths for addressing conflicts.
