Israel’s Arab parties failed to reach an agreement on a shared electoral slate proposed by an inter-party “reconciliation committee” on Sunday afternoon, leaving the Arab community’s prospects for representation in the next Knesset uncertain.

According to national broadcaster Kan, MK Ahmad Tibi’s Ta’al party rejected the proposed slate with Hadash, a joint Jewish-Arab leftist faction incorporating Israel’s old Communist Party; and the secular nationalist Balad party.

While Tibi did not release a statement, one member of his party said in an interview with Arabic media that the committee’s proposal was “unfair” and “a stab in the back” and that he considered the committee “biased and partisan.”

In response, both Hadash and Balad released statements endorsing the list and calling for Arab unity ahead of the election on October 27.

According to a Hadash spokesman, the proposed joint list would have been led by Hadash chairman Yousef Jabareen, followed by Tibi, Sami Abu Shehadeh (Balad), Jafar Farah (Hadash), Bakhar Awawdeh (Balad), Ofer Cassif (Hadash), Youssef Atauna (Hadash), Maha Karkabi (Balad), an unspecified Ta’al candidate, Nihaya Washahi (Hadash), Hassan Nassasra (Balad), a second unspecified Ta’al candidate, and Ayas Natour (Hadash).

Such a list would give Ta’al less representation than either Hadash or Balad.

Hadash announced in June that it was moving forward with reestablishing a joint electoral list with Ta’al and Balad ahead of the upcoming national vote, while “leaving the door open” for Mansour Abbas’s Islamist Ra’am faction to join at a later stage.

The four Arab-majority parties signed an........

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