and they told me that they had no interest in voting. They would like to see improvements in the Arab sector but said that the Arab parties were simply anti-Israel. They didn't see any Jewish party that wanted to improve their status, so they wouldn't bother to vote.

Says it all: " Arab politicians' preoccupation with issues that don’t really appeal to their constituents" If they spent half as much time and effort on helping the Arabs in Israel as they do the Palestinians this would not be the case.

but always have plenty of reasons to complain. Go back to Jordan/ Palestine, see what "democracy" is about there.