Uncook:

  There is no shortage of examples illustrating the widespread view in Israel that Palestinians' political participation should be monitored, controlled and curtailed, and that their right to vote and run for office should be drained of any meaning.

  The Military Rule imposed on Palestinian citizens until 1966 treated this entire population as enemies, severely restricting their political activity. Mapai (later the Labor Party), which governed the state and most of its institutions in Israel's early years, refused to take on Palestinian candidates until the early 1980s and set up satellite parties for Palestinian citizens, dictating who would run in them and how they would vote.

  Efforts to delegitimize Palestinian political participation continue to the present day, clearly showing that some of the Israel's leaders and the public at large see such participation as undesirable.

  The message to Palestinians and their candidates is clear: Do not seek full equality and recognition of collective national rights. Demanding equality on matters such as land, immigration and national emblems is perceived as repudiating Israel’s constitutional principles, as it undermines the country's definition as a Jewish state.

  Prime Minister Yair Lapid recently spelled out this principle, saying: "Twenty percent of the population are Arabs. We can and should give them civil equality... On the other hand, we will not give them national equality, because this is the only state the Jews have."

  Palestinian citizens who choose to participate in the electoral process have no choice but to enter the political playing field with their hands tied. The parties representing them are barred from challenging the fundamental principles of the regime that is dispossessing and oppressing them. They cannot seek to abolish the laws and systems that harm them, which are considered defining features of the Jewish state. They cannot fight for a core democratic tenet: full equality for all those living under the same regime. This limits political participation exclusively for Palestinian citizens. No matter what they do or how they vote – constitutionally, their vote is worthless.