High voter turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel threatens Netanyahu
Al Jazeera reports on 28 October 2026:
Palestinian citizens of Israel have turned out in unprecedented numbers for Israel’s parliamentary elections, with some towns reporting participation rates exceeding 70 percent. Historically, however, Arab towns have witnessed lower participation rates in Israeli elections, ranging between 45 and 65 percent in recent years.
This electoral surge from Palestinian citizens of Israel now threatens to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition.
For many from this contingent, who might normally have abstained from voting, this election was perceived as a chance to defeat a government that was totally hostile to Palestinians and Arabs at large. There have been a number of measures enacted by Israel’s current right-wing government that encouraged high turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel in this election.
These include attempts by Jewish settlers to establish an outpost on Palestinian land in Majd al-Krum in the Upper Galilee. “The people who were indifferent to the elections, and who did not want to participate or vote, the matter provoked them,” Hussein Manna, a resident of Majd al-Krum, told Al Jazeera. “They know very well what awaits us if this government returns to power.”
Path to power
Netanyahu and his far-right allies, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have heavily targeted Arabs in their campaigning. But this appears to have backfired and instead encouraged Palestinian citizens of Israel to go out and vote for Arab parties, the Joint List and the United Arab List (Ra’am).
Preliminary reports suggest that these parties could secure up to 17 seats combined, enough to prevent Netanyahu from reaching the required 61-seat majority.
“It is fateful for Netanyahu and for his political future, and it is also fateful for the State of Israel because it will determine its identity later on,” Walid al-Omari, Al Jazeera’s bureau chief in Palestine, said. He added that if Netanyahu’s coalition remains in power, Israel “will move more towards racism and towards extremism”.