Leader of Joint List votes; boycotters criticise party

Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint List - which has brought Palestinian political parties in Israel together for the first time - votes in today's election near his house.

Odeh, who is also the leader of the Jewish-Palestinian communist Hadah party, drew wide attention last month when he reproached Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman for failing to use his name in live televised debates, writes MEE's Meron Rapoport.

"I'm an Arab and I have a name. It's Ayman Odeh," he told Lieberman.

Latest polls show the Joint List is likely to become the third-largest faction in the Knesset, which would bring Palestinian citizens of Israel out of the Israeli political sidelines. 

While some are reporting that it appears there is a larger turnout than usual of Palestinian citizens of Israel today as a result of the Joint List, it is not without its critics amongst the Palestinian community.

"Practically speaking, they cannot do anything to influence the Knesset, not even symbolically," Fida Shehadeh, a boycott campaigner in Lod, told MEE this week.