Israel’s Arab-led parties are projected to win a record number of seats in the Israeli parliament, exit polls indicate, making them increasingly hard to ignore by the leading blocs.
asserted
them → lead → blocs
“Probably the most important phenomenon of this election is the rise and the revival of the Arab vote,” Daniel Shek, a former Israeli ambassador, said.
asserted
Shek → say → vote
“The statement is clear: You cannot disregard such a large portion of the electorate in the calculations for Israeli politics.
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You → disregard → politics
you form Israel’s next coalition government?
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you → form → government
- list 2 of 4High voter turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel threatens Netanyahu
- list 3 of 4Israeli voters: hope and despair as election ballots are counted
- list 4 of 4Israel’s election: The battle between change and anti-Palestinian sentiment
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ballots → threaten → change
The latest projections from Tuesday’s voting showed that the Arab parties – the Joint List and Ra’am – could hold a record combined 17 seats in the 120-member Knesset.
uncertain
parties → show → Knesset
So far, no clear winner has emerged as partial results give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc 54 seats and the opposition alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot 49.
asserted
alliance → emerge → Eisenkot
While Arab parties might theoretically wield influence as the two main blocs fail to win majorities in the Knesset, they are not “kingmakers”, observers said, pointing to what amounts to a political veto that limits Arab parties’ ability to turn electoral gains into influence.
“This veto is rooted in a racist structure that regards the Arab citizen as illegitimate and as an unwanted partner,” Honaida Ghanam, director general of the Palestinian Forum for Israeli Studies in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, told Al Jazeera, alluding to the resistance by the majority of Israeli parties to form any government with Arab-led lists.
uncertain
Ghanam → wield → lists
Both Netanyahu and Eisenkot have rejected the idea of partnering with them, citing a lack of shared values.
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Netanyahu → reject → values
What do the numbers say?
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numbers → say → What
The numbers from exit poll projections thus far are looking clear: If Eisenkot’s bloc teams up with Arab parties, they could secure the 61 seats needed for a majority in parliament and depose Netanyahu.
uncertain
they → look → Netanyahu
According to The Times of Israel, the latest partial results would give a partnership between Eisenkot’s opposition alliance and Arab-led parties 66 seats.
uncertain
results → accord → seats
According to Palestinian political analyst Ahmed Najar, the unwillingness by the opposition bloc to join forces is purely “ideological”.
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unwillingness → accord → forces
“Eisenkot has imposed loyalty tests on Arab parties and ruled out relying on them even as the electoral arithmetic makes their support indispensable,” Najar told Al Jazeera.
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Najar → impose → Jazeera
Observers are divided on this.
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Observers → divide → this
According to Najar, a partnership with the Arab parties is not only feasible, it may be the only “realistic” route for Eisenkot to remove Netanyahu.
uncertain
Eisenkot → accord → Netanyahu
Omar Shaban, director of Palthink for Strategic Studies, pointed to the fact that Mansour Abbas, the leader of Ra’am, has already shown a willingness to join Eisenkot’s government if the Israeli candidate is elected, based on the condition that internal security matters will be handled by the Arab party.
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matters → point → party
Abbas has even appointed Jewish lawmaker Yoav Segalovitz to the number two spot on Ra’am’s electoral slate for the elections, Shaban explained.
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Shaban → appoint → elections
Such a collaboration, if it came to fruition, could help foster better relations between Palestinian citizens and Jewish Israelis, he said.
uncertain
he → come → citizens
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen said his party is prepared to take responsibility for bringing Netanyahu’s far-right coalition down.
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party → say → coalition
“The government has made the lives of every Arab citizen miserable,” Jabareen was quoted by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper as saying.
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Jabareen → make → newspaper
His movement “will know how to leverage” its political strength to advance its values, he added.
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he → know → values
Ahmad Tibi, also a Joint List leader, on Wednesday said the bloc was extending its hand to the opposition alliance to oust Netanyahu, according to Israeli media reports.
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bloc → say → reports
It was far from clear, however, that the bloc would formally join a governing coalition.
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bloc → join → coalition
A roadblock to such a partnership is the more “radical” elements in Israeli society that Eisenkot would have to face who “don’t want the Israeli government to be supported or dependent on Arab votes”, Shabaan said.
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Shabaan → have → votes
Najar said Eisenkot would also have to persuade his prospective partners, including Naftali Bennett from the Together alliance and Avigdor Liberman, who heads the Yisrael Beytenu party.
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who → say → party
“Politically, however, it would require him and his prospective partners, particularly Bennett and Lieberman, to abandon the longstanding Zionist consensus that Palestinian citizens of Israel may vote but that the parties representing them are not legitimate partners in governing the country,” he said.
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he → require → country
Ghanam outlined four possible outcomes: another election, an opposition minority government supported from outside by Arab parties, defections from the opposition to Netanyahu’s bloc or a national unity government.
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Ghanam → outline → bloc
“Beyond the arithmetic, the most telling result of this election is the resilience of Netanyahu’s camp, which has proven deeply entrenched and cohesive,” she added.
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she → prove → camp
What are the terms Eisenkot has laid out for a partnership with Arab parties?
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Eisenkot → lay → parties
According to The Times of Israel, Eisenkot has said he would consider partnering with any party that recognises Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, endorses the values of the Declaration of Independence and commits to all Israelis performing national service.
uncertain
that → accord → service
He hasn’t, however, expressed whether Ra’am, with or without Jewish lawmaker Segalovitz, would meet those criteria, the outlet also reported.
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outlet → express → criteria
Have Jewish and Arab parties teamed up before?
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parties → team → ?
Most recently, after the 2021 elections, Ra’am emerged as a possible kingmaker, and its support was vital for the formation of the short-lived Bennett-Yair Lapid government at the time.
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support → emerge → time
“Ra’am participated in the 2021-2022 coalition while Arab parties have previously supported governments from outside, most notably during the Rabin period,” Najar said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who served in the country’s top post in the 1970s and 1990s.
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who → participate → 1970s
What have other party leaders said about partnering?
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leaders → say → partnering
Netanyahu said on Tuesday that a coalition with Arab-led parties to form a government would be “a shame and a disgrace”.
“It is forbidden – simply forbidden – to endanger Israel and to establish a government that relies on anti-Zionist Arab parties,” he told supporters.
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he → say → supporters
Bennett, meanwhile, who is currently in third place, has reversed course from the past: He has made clear that he now only wants “Zionist” parties in government and wants to exclude Arab parties.
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wants → reverse → parties
By contrast, Yair Golan, leader of the centre-left Democrats party, which is part of the opposition bloc led by Eisenkot, has urged his allies to abandon their refusal to cooperate with Arab parties.
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which → lead → parties
“We must no longer accept Netanyahu’s racist division between Jewish votes and Arab votes,” Golan wrote on X.
What does the reluctance to partner say about Israeli democracy?
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reluctance → accept → democracy
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
