TEL AVIV | An Israeli ultranationalist is riding a wave of popularity in an election campaign by assailing Israel’s Arab minority, putting him in a position to be a kingmaker of the next Israeli government.
Using the slogan “no loyalty, no citizenship,” Avidgor Lieberman and his party, Yisrael Beitenu, are siphoning off support from front-runner Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party in the last week of the campaign.
The final polls before Tuesday’s vote showed a narrowing race Friday, but still projected a victory for Likud. Mr. Lieberman could finish the race heading the third-largest party in the next parliament, or Knesset. One poll showed Likud winning 27 seats, compared with 25 seats for the Kadima party of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
Israel’s recent massive offensive against Gaza — in a failed attack to stop rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave on Israeli towns — has hardened Israeli Jewish views toward the Palestinians, as well as toward Israeli Arabs who account for 20 percent of Israel’s population. Israeli Arabs have come under sharp criticism from the Jewish majority for openly sympathizing with Palestinian Gazans during the war.
“We face terror from outside and terror from inside,” Mr. Lieberman told supporters at a campaign event in northern Israel on Thursday.
A surge in the polls, coupled with his provocative proposal to force Israeli Arabs to declare loyalty to the Jewish state, is helping Mr. Lieberman to set the agenda of the campaign.
“Lieberman is offering simplistic solutions and a scapegoat for Israel’s problems,” said Yossi Klein Halevi, a senior fellow at the Shalem Institute in Jerusalem.
“Lieberman’s success is an expression of Israeli Jewish despair at the chances of finding peace or security in the Middle East. Obviously, there’s some racism at play, and fear encourages racism. But I think the deeper reason for Lieberman’s success is the deeper sense among Jewish Israelis [that] there are no solutions,” Mr. Halevi said.
Mr. Netanyahu, who has watched polling numbers for his center-right Likud party steadily drop in recent weeks, is now playing catch-up with Mr. Lieberman by wooing hawkish voters.
On Thursday, Mr. Netanyahu declared that he would not evacuate West Bank settlements, an expected requirement of any peace agreement with the Palestinians. He also gave a tentative endorsement of the Lieberman loyalty test, calling it a “legitimate proposal.”
Building on a core of Russian immigrant voters, Mr. Lieberman has widened his appeal to mainstream Israeli voters. His surge is so robust that he’s drawing fire from both sides of the political spectrum.
On the left, he’s attacked as undemocratic for his proposals against Israeli Arabs.
“In this election, Lieberman has crossed red lines,” said Education Minister Yuli Tamir of the left-of-center Labor party, which has been eclipsed by Yisrael Beitenu. A poll by the Ha’aretz newspaper Friday showed Mr. Lieberman’s party surging to 18 seats, compared with 14 for Labor.
Members of Labor are calling on party leader Ehud Barak to boycott a government with Mr. Lieberman.
“If he gets legitimacy, Israeli democracy will enter a process of self-destruction,” Ms. Tamir said.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.