Palestinian citizens of Israel have turned out in unprecedented numbers for Israel’s parliamentary elections, with some towns reporting participation rates exceeding 70 percent. Historically, however, Arab towns have witnessed lower participation rates in Israeli elections, ranging between 45 and 65 percent in recent years. This electoral surge from Palestinian citizens of Israel now threatens to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition.
For many from this contingent, who might normally have abstained from voting, this election was perceived as a chance to defeat a government that was totally hostile to Palestinians and Arabs at large. There have been a number of measures enacted by Israel’s current right-wing government that encouraged high turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel in this election. These include attempts by Jewish settlers to establish an outpost on Palestinian land in Majd al-Krum in the Upper Galilee.
But this appears to have backfired and instead encouraged Palestinian citizens of Israel to go out and vote for Arab parties, the Joint List and the United Arab List (Ra’am). Preliminary reports suggest that these parties could secure up to 17 seats combined, enough to prevent Netanyahu from reaching the required 61-seat majority. He added that if Netanyahu’s coalition remains in power, Israel “will move more towards racism and towards extremism”.
Ahmad Tibi, head of the Arab Movement for Renewal, told Al Jazeera: “The first goal: bringing down the government of Netanyahu, Smotrich, and Ben-Gvir, the government of crimes, the government of failure, and the government of racism and incitement against us.” But he warned that the leaders of almost all parties opposed to Netanyahu have ruled out an alliance with the Arab parties. It is post-October 7, and this is a racist position,” Tibi stated. When the prospect of high Palestinian voter turnout emerged, Netanyahu and the far right launched a frantic campaign, warning supporters about this.
Netanyahu posted AI-generated images of Arab voters to incite his base, a move the Joint List condemned as an attempt to create a “misleading scene”. Mohannad Mustafa, an academic and expert in Israeli affairs, believes that Netanyahu considers the Arab vote illegitimate. He said racist fearmongering and a hostile environment during the campaigning set a dangerous precedent.
There were also reports of right-wing parties deploying activists to polling stations, which was widely interpreted as a form of intimidation against Palestinian citizens of Israel who were voting. He believes the right hoped such tactics would make Palestinian citizens of Israel tired of waiting in line at the polls and leave without voting. Instead, he saw the community’s “determination to stay until the voting is done”.
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