JERUSALEM
Arab-Israeli lawmaker Ahmed Tibi on Monday was elected to the post of deputy speaker of the Knesset (Israel’s parliament), according to Israeli radio.
He was elected by a majority of votes, while right-wing MP Robert Ilatov abstained from the ballot.
Tibi is a member of the Arab Joint List, a coalition of four Arab parties that came in at third place – with 13 assembly seats – in the last Knesset elections.
Roughly 1.6 million Arabs live in Israel, accounting for roughly 20 percent of the country's eight-million-strong population, according to official Israeli statistics.
Israel refers to Palestinians who remained in historical Palestine following the creation of Israel in 1948 as “Israeli Arabs.”
Around 5.9 million Israeli citizens are currently eligible to cast ballots in elections for the Knesset.
