By SETH J. FRANTZMAN

Remember those “logic games” from the LSATs in the US, the test people take for law school?

A and D must occupy consecutive time slots.
C must be shown during an earlier time slot than K.
D must be shown during a later time slot than H.
If K does not occupy the third time slot, then F must occupy the third time slot.
H and J cannot occupy consecutively numbered time slots.

And so on.

Well, a new article in an Israeli newspaper has created a real life political party logic-game, Israel style. “Israel’s Only Arab Majority Party in Danger of Collapse After Lawmaker Convicted.”

We learn the following. “Four parties comprising the Joint List – Hadash, the United Arab List, Balad and Ta’al – reached a rotation agreement two and a half years ago.”

Now. “The Joint List won 13 seats in the election, and as part of the agreement, lawmakers Osama Saadia of Ta’al and Abdullah Abu Maaruf of Hadash, who currently hold the 12th and 13th spots on the list, were supposed to step down after half a term to make way for the next two on the list: Joumah Azbarga (14th) from Balad and Saeed Al-Horomi (15th) of UAL.”

• Basel Ghattas from the Balad party resigned
• Balad has no reserved positions until the 19th slot
• Hadash said it was prepared for Abu Maaruf (13th) to resign but would not withdraw Yusuf Elatawne, who is in the 17th slot.
• Ta’al has made Saadia’s (12th) resignation contingent on withdrawals by Elatawne (17th) and UAL’s Ibrahim Hijazi, in the 16th slot. Only then would it withdraw their candidate in 18th place.
• UAL demands that the agreement be executed so Al-Horomi (15th) enters the Knesset.
• UAL would discuss withdrawing the candidacy of Hijazi (16th).

On July 30th the party announced that Maaruf would resign and Saadia should also resign.

Balad and Ta’al don’t agree.

Hadash supports the decision.

A reminder of the original Joint List slate that made it into the Knesset in 2015

1 Aymen Odeh (Hadash)  2 Masud Ghanim (UAL) 3 Jamal Zahalkha (Balad) 4 Ahmed Tibi (Ta’al) 5 Aida Toumeh-Sliman (Hadash) 6 Abd al-Hakim abu Yahya (Ta’al) 7 Hanin Zoabi (Balad) 8 Dov Khenin (Hadash) 9 Taleb Abu Arar (UAL) 10 Yosef Jabareen (Hadash) 11 Basel Ghattas (Balad) 12 Osama Sa’adi (Ta’al) 13 Abdullah Abu Maaruf (Hadash)