Arab political leaders in Israel are urging Palestinian citizens to turn out in large numbers in next week’s election, seeking to end the rule of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition.
The country’s Arab minority, who are Palestinian by heritage and Israeli by citizenship, makes up 21 percent of the population. A high Arab turnout could prove decisive for an anti-Netanyahu alliance led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, with opinion polls indicating that neither major bloc can secure a majority on its own.
Surveys project Eisenkot’s patchwork coalition of centrist, right- and left-wing factions will capture 52 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, compared with 50 seats for Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist camp. Among Arab factions, Mansour Abbas’ United Arab List is projected to take five seats, while the Joint List, an alliance of three Arab parties, is projected to secure eight.
“We can ensure the formation of a new government of change,” Abbas said from his office in Nazareth. He previously became the first Arab Muslim minister in an Israeli cabinet in 2021, and has placed Jewish former police official Yoav Segalovitz second on his electoral list in an effort to build bridges.
Eisenkot has publicly insisted he will not enter a coalition with Arab parties, pointing to their refusal to describe Hamas as a terrorist group. “I will not align myself with any Arab party,” Eisenkot said on a podcast this month. However, Arab politicians argue the mathematics of coalition building may force negotiations or external backing to prevent prolonged deadlock and another election in 2027.
The Joint List has indicated willingness to support an Eisenkot-led administration from outside a formal coalition. Joint List leader Ahmad Tibi said his group could form a preventive bloc and vote alongside Eisenkot to establish an official commission of inquiry into the October 7, 2023 attack.
Netanyahu’s campaign has sought to leverage potential cooperation between his rivals and Arab politicians to rally his base, releasing altered images and artificial intelligence-generated video clips showing Eisenkot embracing Arab figures.
The election comes amid Arab frustration over rising crime and policies from far-right ministers, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s proposal to “Judaize” areas around Nazareth and southern Israel. The Stat-Net Research Institute projects Arab turnout will reach 63 percent, up from 56 percent in 2022.
