Israel’s Arab parties are projected to secure 18 seats in the 120-member Knesset, according to exit polls, after turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel rose to its highest level in decades.
Early indicators suggested participation in Palestinian-Israeli communities had reached about 80 per cent, surpassing the previous record set in 1999. Overall turnout was also reported at a historic 77.7 per cent.
The Joint List and Ra’am, or the United Arab List, were expected to hold a record number of seats between them. Ra’am is currently represented by five MPs and previously joined the coalition that governed Israel from 2021 to 2022.
Updated exit polling put the opposition bloc led by former military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party level with the bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, with both projected to win 51 seats.
Arab parties could hold balance of power
Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas said he hoped the final count would enable the anti-Netanyahu bloc, including his party, to reach the 61 seats needed to form a government.
“With the numbers we have now, there is no government,” Mr Abbas told Israel’s Channel 12. He said both major blocs had contacted his party before and after the election.
Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli ambassador, said forming a government could prove difficult for parties such as Mr Eisenkot’s, which had pledged during the campaign not to form coalitions with Arab parties.
“There’s a price to pay,” Mr Pinkas said, arguing that the “Arabs can’t be kept outside and only being considered and co-opted when you need their votes”. He said Arab-led lists would make demands that a Jewish-led coalition might not be willing to support.
Netanyahu and his far-right coalition made last-minute appeals for supporters to vote, warning of rising turnout in Palestinian communities. Arab politicians condemned the tactic as racist and inflammatory.
Cars carrying Likud flags were seen driving through Jerusalem, blaring the Islamic call to prayer and urging supporters to vote because “Arabs are voting”, witnesses said. Mr Netanyahu also highlighted queues at polling stations in Arab communities and posted an image he said showed Arab voters, including women wearing the niqab, waiting to cast their ballots.
“If we don’t wake up now, we’ll find ourselves with a government of Mansour Abbas and Ahmad Tibi,” he said, referring to two prominent Palestinian members of the Knesset.
Palestinian citizens of Israel make up about 21 per cent of the country’s population of 10 million and have traditionally voted at lower rates than Jewish Israelis. The surge in participation was described as an “existential moment” for Palestinian-Israelis, including some who would usually boycott elections or doubt their ability to influence their circumstances.
