Arab-led parties win record 19 Knesset seats as turnout surges

Ra’am and the Joint List secured 19 seats in the 120-member Israeli Knesset on Tuesday, surpassing their previous combined record of 15. The Central Election Committee reported that more than 800,000 citizens cast ballots for these two Arab-led formations. This figure represents an increase of more than 60% compared to the 2022 elections.

Mansour Abbas, the leader of Ra’am, addressed supporters in a wedding hall in the northern city of Sakhnin following exit polls. "We are here and we are not on the margin," Abbas said as his followers cheered. The parties attributed the surge in participation to frustration with the current government, which many voters view as the most right-wing in Israeli history.

Turnout varied across communities but reached historic highs in several areas. In Sakhnin, voting participation hit 87%, the highest rate recorded in Israel. Mazen Ghnaim, the city’s mayor and a Ra’am supporter, described the vote as an emergency measure against rising violence and incitement from Netanyahu’s ultranationalist allies. "I want to protect my voters from being killed, my children from being attacked in their universities and Arab doctors from being assaulted in hospitals," Ghnaim said.

In Tarabin, a Bedouin village in the Negev desert, Ra’am received 93% of the vote. Turnout in the area nearly doubled compared to previous elections, where Netanyahu’s party had held majorities. Organizers reported that grassroots movements went door to door in Bedouin villages to encourage women to vote, while community meetings were held in towns often overlooked by Jewish-led parties.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intensified his campaign against his rivals, claiming on the social media platform X that foreign powers bribed voters to support Arab-led parties. He warned that forming a government with these parties would lead to the "Islamization of Israel." These unverified claims were echoed by his allies, including Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who urged supporters to vote to keep the country Jewish and Zionist on election day.

The two victorious parties hold different views on Israel’s relationship with Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Ra’am campaigned on integration and placed a Jewish former police official in the second position on its candidate list. Members of the Joint List, however, called the campaign in Gaza a genocide and compared the occupation of the West Bank to apartheid South Africa. Sami Abou Shehadeh, a Joint List leader, stated that voters see one option proposing genocide and the other proposing apartheid.

Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu’s main rival, has set conditions for a potential coalition. He requires partner parties to profess that Israel is a Jewish and democratic state and to declare Hamas a terrorist organization that must be dismantled. Eisenkot has not yet held formal talks with the new Knesset members, but he indicated he is ready to negotiate.

Yousef Jabareen, the leader of the Joint List, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that his coalition expects protection and equality for Palestinian citizens and a reactivation of the peace process. "We have promised our community to do everything possible to get rid of this fascist government," Jabareen said. Ra’am did not respond to questions this week about whether it would accept Eisenkot’s conditions.

Tamar Hermann, a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute, noted that Israel’s shift to the right complicates alliances with Arab-led parties. She said the country is moving away from liberal democracy toward an ethnic democracy. Both Ra’am and the Joint List have expressed openness to any move that removes Netanyahu, including abstaining in a vote to lower the threshold Eisenkot needs for a majority.