The Fifth Period: 2015–2019 and 2021–2022

Chapter 8 covers the fifth period of the Arab Palestinian legislators’ activities, 2015–2019, 2021–2022 (the 20th Knesset and the 24th Knesset). The Israeli context as a Jewish and democratic state continued to challenge the Arab Palestinian legislators in the fifth period. Events such as bills proposed to delegitimize their rights as equal citizens in Israel, the government’s demand that the Arab Palestinian leaders recognize Israel as a Jewish state, the Arab Spring and its consequences for Arab countries and Israel’s policy regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict all posed challenges to Israel’s Arabs. But, for the first time they united in an Arab Joint List and at one point, joined the country’s ruling coalition. Arab Palestinian legislators continued to pay attention to the Arab within Israel identity, but less than during the first and second periods and more compared to the third and fourth periods. The discourse was about the legitimacy of Arab Palestinian citizens in Israel as equal citizens and the religious discourse.