On October 27, the day Israel went to the polls, the first election since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, the country recorded its highest voter turnout since 1999, at 77.7% But this was not the only story about the turnout.
Israel’s often overlooked Arab citizens, who make up some 20% of the population, made an overwhelming case for representation and change that day by turning out in massive numbers to vote.
asserted
who → go → numbers
Exit polls recorded by Channel 12 estimated their turnout at nearly 80%, the highest in at least a decade.
asserted
polls → record → decade
For the far-right coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the election was a “war for our home”, but for Arab parties, the political mobilisation meant meaningful representation in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.
asserted
mobilisation → lead → Knesset
This mobilisation seems to have paid off.
asserted
mobilisation → seem → ?
Arab parties have emerged as the third bloc after the elections.
asserted
parties → emerge → elections
The Joint List and the United Arab List (Ra’am) have secured a combined 19 seats in the 120-member Parliament, their highest-ever tally.
asserted
List → secure → Parliament
Part of the credit goes to the Arab parties, which have actively mobilised their communities to vote.
asserted
which → go → communities
But much of it also goes to Mr. Netanyahu’s far-right government, whose policies and rhetoric, including the war on Gaza and escalating violence in the occupied West Bank, have heightened fears among Arab citizens.
asserted
policies → go → citizens
While Arab citizens are affected like any other Israelis when it comes to national security, they’ve also borne the brunt of racism and violence.
asserted
they → affect → racism
According to polls by the Israeli Democracy Institute, a party’s position related to crime in Arab society was one of the most important factors determining their vote.
uncertain
position → accord → vote
Prime motivation
Fear, as many experts have pointed out, has been their prime motivation, which Arab parties have been able to mobilise given the divisive campaigns launched by Mr. Netanyahu’s bloc.
asserted
parties → point → bloc
During the campaign, the Netanyahu camp put up billboards, saying it was ‘either the right or Palestine’.
asserted
it → put → billboards
Even on the day of polling, the Prime Minister urged his supporters to go and vote, pointing to an Arab voter surge and calling it a matter of “life and death”.
asserted
Minister → urge → life
While leaders of Arab parties have called Mr. Netanyahu’s attempts racist, they, too, have borne the brunt of discrimination.
asserted
they → call → discrimination
Like in the cases of previous elections, an attempt was made for disqualification of the Ra’am party and the Joint List (an alliance of Balad, Hadash and Ta’al) before the polls.
asserted
attempt → make → polls
The surge in voter turnout has helped them gain a significant number of seats, which would have made them kingmakers in a hung Parliament where no bloc has a clear majority.
asserted
bloc → help → majority
But neither side has expressed any willingness to form a government with Arab parties.
asserted
side → express → parties
Mr. Netanyahu has accused the Arab parties of “stealing” the elections and has vowed to keep them out of power, while Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the opposition coalition, has been reluctant to join hands with them.
asserted
Eisenkot → accuse → them
The Ra’am party, led by Mansour Abbas, became the first Arab party in nearly 44 years to be part of a government in 2021 when they backed the Bennett-Yair Lapid government.
asserted
they → lead → government
Ra’am broke off from the Joint List.
asserted
Ra’am → break → List
However, this experiment was short-lived as the coalition collapsed within a year.
asserted
coalition → live → year
Ra’am returned to the opposition fold after Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition won the elections in 2022.
asserted
coalition → return → 2022
Arab parties had previously supported governments from outside, especially under Labour Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
asserted
parties → support → Rabin
Any alliance with Jewish parties is challenging given how much they differ in their views on Palestine.
asserted
they → give → Palestine
Most Jewish parties, including Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud and Mr. Eisenkot’s Yashar, are opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian State and support the occupation of the West Bank.
asserted
parties → include → Bank
This is in contrast to what the Arab parties envision.
asserted
parties → envision → what
The Joint List has stated that it is committed to ending the occupation and establishing a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders and lifting the siege on Gaza.
asserted
it → state → Gaza
Ra’am supports an end of the occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
asserted
Ra’am → support → capital
However, they differ on priorities.
asserted
they → differ → priorities
While Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am party prioritises tackling immediate, practical resources for Arab towns, the Joint List maintains that Arab citizens cannot achieve true equality inside Israel without also ending the military occupation of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
asserted
citizens → prioritise → Bank
The Aporia
