Facing the abyss: Pro-Arab and left wing parties pay a high price for divisions

Last summer, a broad coalition succeeded in kicking Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of Likud, out of office. He is currently standing trial on corruption charges, which he denies.

- By Bethan McKernan and Quique Kierszenbaum JERUSALEM

The "government of change", made up of right, left and centrist parties and led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, had made history because it included an independent Arab party for the first time. The ambitious experiment, however, was hampered from the start by infighting. After losing its slim majority, the Lapid/Bennett government collapsed just after celebrating its first birthday, triggering Israel's fifth election in less than four years.

Before last week's election, Israel's leftwing and pro-Arabrights parties tried to remain optimistic. But now the mood has turned to despair.

"The third-largest party in the Knesset is a racist, Kahanist [referring to a banned rightwing terrorist group], violent party that doesn't want me or my children here," Issawi Frej, the country's second-ever Muslim cabinet minister, wrote on Twitter. "This is no longer a slippery slope. This is the abyss itself." Members of the outgoing coalition were quick to trade accusations of blame for their poor showing. Polling in the run-up to the election suggested it would be a close call, with both blocs on

about 60 seats. Yet despite winning 49.95% of the vote overall, the antiNetanyahu camp will hold just 51 seats in the 120-seat parliament.