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Bishara, left, says winning the office of prime minister is not his goal
RELATED VIDEO CNN's Jerrold Kessel reports on the importance of the Arab vote (May 12) Windows Media 28K 80K

May 12, 1999
Web posted at: 8:53 p.m. EDT (0053 GMT)

In this story: Arabs traditionally back Labor Barak 'lesser of two evils' RELATED STORIES, SITES

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- In a time-honored tradition, Azmi Bishara is campaigning for Israel's top political post by meeting with constituents over coffee and cigarettes, relaxing together around a table.

The scene may not look history-making, but it is, because Bishara is the first Israeli Arab to run for prime minister. He admits that he does not have a chance of winning in Monday's elections, but he says that victory was never his intention.

"This candidacy was supposed to be a tool -- to make a point that we want the state to be the state for all of the citizens and to bargain for Arab rights," Bishara said.

Nearly one in five Israeli citizens, and about 15 percent of voters, are Arabs. They are one of the pivotal groups, along with Russian immigrants and ultra-religious Jews, that are being courted by the Jewish state's two largest parties, Likud and Labor.

Arabs traditionally back Labor

In the past, Arab voters overwhelmingly voted for the center-left Labor, whose candidate for prime minister is Ehud Barak, rather than the right-of-center Likud bloc, now headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

While two other Arab parties have endorsed Barak, Bishara, a philosophy professor who heads the Arab-based Balad party, has stayed in the race to champion the Arab cause.

Many of Israel's Arabs complain of deep discrimination, with infrastructure in Arab towns and villages lagging behind that of Jewish areas. Bishara, a Christian from Nazareth, advocates that Israel redefine itself by evolving from a Jewish state into a secular one.

He also wants cultural autonomy for Arabs in Israel and favors Palestinian statehood.

Barak 'lesser of two evils'

Bishara has said that he may pull out of the race and support Barak if polls continue to show that that the Labor leader could beat Netanyahu outright in the first round of voting. A final decision on whether to withdraw will be made Saturday, which means the Barak camp will have a few more days to sweat.

Barak "is the lesser of the two evils, but he has to prove he is the lesser of the two evils," Bishara said.

A withdrawal by Bishara could trigger two other long-shot candidates for prime minister -- Yitzhak Mordechai and Benny Begin -- to leave the race as well, making it a one-on-one contest between Barak and Netanyahu.

Correspondent Jerrold Kessel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.