One of the most striking results from the election in Israel on Tuesday was the unusually strong showing by two leading Arab parties, whose voters turned out in record numbers to express their opposition to the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The final results have not been announced, but a range of exit polls conducted by Israeli broadcasters suggest that two of the parties — the socially conservative United Arab List, or Raam, and the left-wing Joint List — may have won a historically large number of seats in parliament and an important role in the formation of the country’s next government.
Mansour Abbas, the leader of Raam, told a television interviewer that the turnout showed that Arab voters, who make up about 20 percent of Israel’s population, had channeled their “frustration and despair” into “hope.”
He said he wanted to replace Mr. Netanyahu’s government “in every possible way” and that his first priority was to “ensure that there is a chance of forming a government” that achieved that goal.
The Arab parties’ strong showing may make them kingmakers. But building a governing coalition with Arab participation remains a fraught exercise in Israel. Many Israeli Jews believe that a parliamentary majority should not rely on the support of Arab lawmakers.
Most Arab citizens are the descendants of Palestinians who remained in their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israel war at the time of Israel’s independence.
Today, they mostly live in separate towns from Jewish Israelis and face violence and discriminatory housing policies.
Over the decades, disagreements, including over Israel’s nature as a Jewish state, have led many Arab voters to avoid the ballot box.
This week, many Arab voters said they were furious at Mr. Netanyahu for his treatment of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and for policies that they feel treat Palestinians in Israel as second-class citizens. Indeed, throughout the campaign, Mr. Netanyahu made overt appeals to anti-Arab prejudice.
“I’m very optimistic because people understand that this isn’t like ordinary elections — we want change,” said Kholoud Al-Zeinati, 39, an Arab Israeli voter who cast her ballot on Tuesday in the mixed Jewish-Arab city of Lod, where long lines formed at polling places. “Because we, as the Arab community, are the community that pays the biggest price across so many aspects of life, it’s important to come out and take part.”
“I expect our votes to be truly decisive in shaping the next government and making things better for all of us,” she added.
Of the two Arab parties that did well on Tuesday, only Raam has joined a coalition government in the past. That happened in 2021, when it joined the short-lived anti-Netanyahu coalition of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
Raam’s participation in that government outraged many right-wing Jewish voters, and when it collapsed after roughly one year, they backed Mr. Netanyahu, who went on to form the most hard-line government in Israel’s history.
That government now faces the possibility that it may be brought down by an election result that has been deeply shaped by robust Arab turnout.
Heedo Abu Laban contributed reporting from Lod, Israel.
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