Of the 120 Knesset members, 10 belong to Arab factions – Balad, Hadash, and United Arab List-Ta’al. When coalitions are formed, these groups are usually left outside the camp, and outside the political discourse. Prime ministerial candidates from the right loathe these factions, while those from the left fear being overly associated with them.

The result is identical: The Arab factions, whose representatives were democratically elected by wide swaths of the population, are shunned and turn into nearly illegitimate entities.

Kadima chair Tzipi Livni is continuing this distasteful tradition. She, too, has not found time in her schedule to talk with representatives of the Arab factions, whose support could help her government build a tolerable majority in the Knesset. Perhaps she had intended all along to start discussions with the Arab parties only after everyone realizes she is not dependent on them. But the unfortunate fact still remains: Livni is sending a message to the public, Arab or not, that the Arabs are very low on her priority list, a position that borders on insult.

One could be confused by this, given that Livni herself declared she was educated on Ze’ev Jabotinsky’s vision of a state that would integrate “the son of Arabia, the son of Nazareth, and my son” – not in total equality, but with the third controlling the other two. In Ehud Olmert’s government, a Labor Party representative became the first sitting Arab minister, Ghaleb Majadele, and he is slated to keep his post under Livni, since in this instance the determining factor is party affiliation, not ethnic origin.

The Arabs’ value as Israeli citizens, as voters, as elected officials, and as partners worthy of participating in the country’s administration does not need validation from Livni or any other politician. Ignoring and ostracizing the Arabs harms Israeli society no less than Arab society.

One in every five Israelis is not Jewish. The Arab voters cannot – nor do they wish to – unite behind one party. This, of course, is their right. Personal conflicts and ideological battles keep them from unifying – just like the Jewish parties – and choosing a leadership that can capitalize on their strength and provide them with benefits. Yet those who boycott the Arab MKs are abandoning the Arab arena to other actors who are less tied to the establishment.

Israeli Arabs feel subjected to discrimination, and understandably so. Extremism among the Arab public increases with every generation of educated youth that is unwilling to accept the narrow slot allocated by Israeli society. Excluding their representatives from the political discourse only contributes to their feelings of detachment.

When Arab citizens’ loyalty to the state is questioned, one must also examine the state’s loyalty to its Arab citizens. Someone ought to remind Livni, who stands at the head of a centrist party, once again: Arab factions represent a vital, legitimate portion of the public that cannot be ignored. They can be partners in the government if they agree to the government’s guidelines; they can support the government from the opposition; or they can oppose the government. But they must be treated exactly like the other factions in the legislature.