At the end of this day, the polls will close, and another campaign of venomous and controversial elections will come to an end. And yet, there is also something good and important that this election campaign has brought with it: the legitimacy of even the Arab citizens of Israel.

Like its predecessors, the current round of elections also began negatively, with no party being educated to offer an alternative to Israeli Arabs, neither arming an Arab representative on the list nor addressing the Arab public at all with plans and solutions. But in the midst of the election campaign, when neither side was able to break the equality, it happened, and with the realization that it was time to try something new: to appeal to the Arab public.

In the April 2019 elections, the Arab public remained mostly at home and did not vote out of disinterest and feeling that no one cared. And here, almost a year after, and for the first time ever, the two largest parties in Israel passionately courted the Arab voice. The Likud, which a few years ago tried to make voters with "Arabs flock to the polls" and a few months ago wanted to pass a law on cameras in Arab polls, held an election conference attended by the Prime Minister in Tamra. In white and blue, they spent more than a million shekels on a massive, targeted campaign for Arabs, including billboards in Nazareth, Taibeh and Kafr Qasem. Even the Labor Party at the last minute invited the media to a "dramatic statement" event, declaring that it would not enter the government without a commitment to the appointment of Prof. Elian Alkreenawi to the first Bedouin minister. It is also important to note the change in semantics: all parties made sure to separate attacks on the joint list of harms to the Arab public itself.

So true, probably the appeal to the Arab public towards the end of the election campaign is too little and too late, it is mostly a strategic step, and certainly not what will be sweeping mandates from the Arab polling stations. But it is certainly a welcome step that indicates positive change, making the Arab voice a major player in the political game and preparing the ground for the growth of a real voting alternative to the joint list. After this past week, Ayman Odeh claimed that there is no such thing as Israeli Arabs, and we are only Arab citizens, it is clear that our hope of becoming an integral part of the State of Israel will only begin with the leadership of representatives who work for integration and a true partnership in the country.
It may be that, after the polls close tonight, some government will finally set out. It may be more that the complicated and complicated situation will also be maintained for the coming months and end with another election campaign. But one thing is certain - we will always remember the March 2020 elections as those who first put Israeli Arabs on the political map as a major player.