Binyamin Netanyahu appeals to Arab voters in Israel

ARAB ISRAELIS are voting “in droves”, said Binyamin Netanyahu, as he tried to scare his religious and nationalist base into voting in 2015. Four years later Mr Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, tried to place cameras in polling stations. Critics saw this as a ruse to scare off Arab voters. Last year he tried to deter his rivals from working with Arab lawmakers by calling the Joint List, an alliance of Arab parties, “supporters of terrorists”.But in the run-up to the election on March 23rd—Israel’s fourth in two years—Mr Netanyahu sounds different. He has been visiting Arab towns, where he takes credit for a highly successful roll-out of covid-19 vaccines. His party, Likud, has placed an Arab Muslim on its list of candidates. The prime minister says he enjoys it when Arabs call him “Abu Yair” (father of Yair), reflecting their practice of referring to someone as the parent of their eldest son. “It brings tears to my eyes,” he says.