Arab constituency forms approximately 22 percent of Labor party members, the party’s largest constituency, according to the party membership poll.
The data gained on Thursday night after the party’s membership poll approached completion, also indicated that kibbutz members, traditionally a prominent Labor constituency, dropped from 16 to 10 percent.
The census results could have crucial influence on the party’s Primaries set to be held on June 28th.
Senior Labor sources said Thursday that the new party reality would mainly benefit candidate Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, who alone drew 14,000 of Arab members to participate in the census.
Candidates Matan Vilnai and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak are likely to suffer the most from the census results.
According to the new membership census, some 21,500 Arabs signed up as party members, compared with some 14,600 members in 2002.
So far only 9,972 members signed up in the kibbutz sector, compared with 17,629 in 2002.ÂÂ
Apparently, labor is becoming increasingly dependant on ‘minority groups’, which is expected to significantly reflect on the future political structure of Israel.
Ironically, the survival of a Zionist party who by definition for the ensuring the Jewish character of the state, is increasingly dependant on the support of the mostly discriminated against ‘minority group’    ÂÂ
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