Few certainties have emerged from Israel’s parliamentary elections.
asserted
certainties → emerge → elections
The diverse coalition of Israel’s self-styled ‘Zionist’ opposition remains short of a majority.
asserted
coalition → style → majority
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud appears to be the largest party, but its electoral bloc has not secured enough seats to form a government.
asserted
bloc → appear → government
What is not in doubt, however, is the surge in turnout from Palestinian citizens of Israel, which has established Arab parties as a pivotal bloc in the parliament, potentially one able to determine which of the rival camps forms a government, if either is willing to work with them.
asserted
either → establish → them
Recommended Stories
list of 4 items- list 1 of 4Israel’s election: The battle between change and anti-Palestinian sentiment
- list 2 of 4Balad leader blasts ‘racist’ exclusion of Arab parties in Israel
- list 3 of 4What are the implications of Israel’s elections?
- list 4 of 4Israel’s election rhetoric: Anti-Palestinian, bombastic, fear-mongering
Anger over Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, and what analysts have described as the overt racism of its governing coalition helped drive Palestinian citizens of Israel to the polls in large numbers.
asserted
analysts → blast → numbers
An estimated 80 percent of eligible Palestinian voters in Israel turned out for Tuesday’s election, marking a surge in participation by a community that accounts for about 21 percent of the population.
asserted
that → estimate → population
The turnout has given the two main electoral lists representing Palestinian citizens of Israel – the United Arab List (Ra’am) and the Joint List – a combined 19 seats in the 120-member parliament, potentially giving them a decisive role in determining who forms the next government.
However, rather than acknowledge that groundswell of support, Israel’s leading politicians have sought to either delegitimise their vote – attributing it to foreign interference – or somehow cast Palestinians exercising their democratic right as an “attempt to steal the election”.
asserted
politicians → give → election
Arab votes don’t count
Framing the result as a bid to secure the “Islamisation of Israel”, Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party has gone so far as to call on Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet, to investigate the possibility of foreign election interference into the large-scale Palestinian turnout.
asserted
party → count → turnout
In doing so, they appear to have thrown the legitimacy of the Arab vote into question and tainted any future attempt by the opposition to ally with the Arab parties.
asserted
they → do → parties
Despite denouncing Netanyahu’s government as corrupt, incompetent and damaging to Israel’s international standing, much of Israel’s Jewish-led opposition has remained reluctant to embrace the support of Palestinian parties to remove him from power.
asserted
much → denounce → power
The left-wing Democrats have been the likeliest to cooperate with the Palestinian parties, while other opposition figures have either resisted such an alliance or stopped short of rejecting allegations that foreign actors helped engineer the surge in Palestinian voter turnout.
asserted
actors → cooperate → turnout
On election night, former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid ruled out sitting alongside Palestinian parties in government, despite having relied on their support during their brief 2021–22 government.
asserted
Bennett → rule → government
On Thursday, another leading member of the opposition, Avigdor Lieberman, the hard-right leader of Yisrael Beytenu, also ruled out forming a coalition with Palestinian parties.
asserted
member → lead → parties
He said he would sit alongside “neither Bibi nor Tibi”, using Netanyahu’s established nickname and invoking Ahmad Tibi, leader of the Ta’al party – part of the Joint List – as a stand-in for the wider Palestinian bloc.
asserted
he → say → bloc
“It was clear from campaigning that there was going to be a large turnout,” said Orly Noy, who stood for the Palestinian-dominated Balad party.
asserted
who → campaign → party
“The [governing] coalition had shown there were no red lines in Gaza and Palestinians in Israel sensed they might be next.
uncertain
they → govern → Israel
People also just couldn’t face another term of soaring crime and a police force headed by [far-right National Security Minister] Itamar Ben-Gvir.”
asserted
People → face → Gvir
“What few rights Palestinians had have been slipping away since October 7.
asserted
had → slip → October
The last tool they had in their toolbox – the only thing they had that was equal to everyone else – was their vote, so they used that in massive numbers, but even that now seems to be being undermined and delegitimised,” she said.
asserted
she → have → numbers
With all ballots counted, the pro-Netanyahu bloc has 53 seats, while the anti-Netanyahu Jewish opposition bloc has 48.
asserted
bloc → count → 48
However, with the 19 seats held by Palestinian parties, the majority in parliament is against Netanyahu.
asserted
majority → hold → Netanyahu
“Why are the opposition and the press even thinking of this as a three-way split?
asserted
opposition → think → split
In any other rational democracy, people would be framing this as an overwhelming victory for the opposition and a rejection of Netanyahu, but we’re not doing that,” Noy said.
asserted
Noy → frame → that
“Instead, we’re hearing elements of the opposition talking about joining with Netanyahu in some kind of National Unity government.
asserted
elements → hear → government
That’s both a measure of how racist these parties are, when they won’t align with Arabs to form a majority, as well as how profoundly undemocratic they are,” she said.
asserted
she → ’ → majority
Political differences do exist between an opposition that deliberately frames itself as Zionist and a Palestinian minority whose claim to equal national and civic rights is seen by some as a rejection of that.
uncertain
claim → exist → that
But underlying that disagreement is a fundamentally different vision of Israel’s future, according to political analyst Nimrod Flaschenberg.
uncertain
vision → underlie → Flaschenberg
“Given that much of Israel’s mainstream politics rests on the assumption of Jewish supremacy, I think it’s understandable that the Arab vote is seen as a challenge,” he said of a sentiment that many argue has been state policy since the 2018 Nation State Law, which enshrined the right to national self-determination as exclusive to Jewish people.
asserted
which → give → people
“There are very different ideas at play of what it means to be a citizen of Israel and of how Israel should be governed and for whose benefit,” he said.
asserted
he → be → benefit
“These are fundamental differences, of course they are, but they can’t disguise the racism underpinning all.”
asserted
they → disguise → all
“They want to form a government with only Jewish voices,” said Mauricio Lapchik, Hebrew campaign director for the Joint List.
asserted
Lapchik → want → List
“If the numbers of these results were in a different country, in a democratic country, I think it would be crazy to think that they will not be able to say that they won the elections, having this majority.
asserted
they → think → majority
But only in Israel, because the voice of the Arabs do not count as the voice of the Jews, we cannot talk about a victory.”
asserted
we → count → victory
The Aporia
