Abbas, however, seems open to such divisions if he can exploit them to his benefit. He has written on Facebook: "We need to decide whether we're going to serve our community or just grandstand." He has said elsewhere: "I want to be part of the political game."
In an interview with Israel's Channel 12, he clarified: "What do I have in common with the left? In foreign policy [relating to the occupation] I'm with them, of course - we support the two-state solution. But on religious affairs I'm right wing. I have a lot more in common with [the religious Jewish parties] Shas and United Torah Judaism."
The paradox is that the Joint List is in profound crisis a few months after it celebrated an unmitigated success at the March election. It received a record number of seats - 15 in the 120-member parliament - having unified the Palestinian minority's votes. It broke for the first time the taboo among left-wing Israeli Jews on voting for the Joint List. And coalition-building arithmetic, given the Joint List's status as the third largest party, has pushed the Israeli Jewish political scene into a prolonged upheaval that has Netanyahu finally on the defensive.
But Netanyahu, ever the experienced tactician, has more incentive than ever to play high stakes to keep himself out of jail. With the Joint List as one of the main obstacles to his political survival, he will do whatever it takes to bring the alliance down.
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