Israel’s Arab-led parties could play key rol in election

  BAQA AL-GHARBIYYE, Israel

Israeli lawmaker Mansour Abbas, right, leader of the Ra'am party, speaks to supporters during a campaign event ahead of Israel's general election in the northern Israeli town of Baqa al-Gharbiyye, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Arab-led parties could emerge as kingmakers in Israel’s Oct. 27 election, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rivals ruling out coalition agreements with them, as the country’s Palestinian minority faces growing discrimination, rising crime and restrictions on freedom of expression.

Mansour Abbas, leader of the Islamist Ra’am party, broke a longstanding taboo in 2021 by bringing an Arab party into an Israeli coalition government.

He condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and has focused on local issues, including crime, rather than the war in Gaza and Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. Critics accuse him of sidelining the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict to gain political influence.

Palestinian citizens and their descendants make up about 20 percent of Israel’s population. Although they hold citizenship and voting rights, activists say they face discrimination and inadequate protection from violent crime.

The homicide rate among Palestinian citizens is more than 22 times higher than among Jewish Israelis. The Abraham Initiatives, an Israeli organization advocating equal rights, has recorded 184 crime-related killings in Arab communities so far this year, with only 12% of cases reported in the first half of 2026 solved.

Authorities have also restricted anti-war protests, displays of Palestinian flags and online expression, according to the rights group Adalah.

The Israeli government maintains that minorities have equal rights and says restrictions are rooted in security concerns.

Tensions have worsened since the 2023 attack and Israel’s subsequent offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. Mohammad

Darawshe, a director at the Givat Haviva Center for a Shared Society, said an initial period of solidarity between Jewish and Palestinian citizens faded as Israel’s military response alienated many Palestinians.

Arab parties could hold significant leverage in the election because no single party is expected to secure the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.

However, Netanyahu, centrist opposition figure Gadi Eisenkot and former coalition leader Yair Lapid have all ruled out forming a government with Arab-led parties. A deadlock could force another election, leaving Netanyahu’s government in a caretaker role.

Despite their political marginalization, some Palestinian citizens say voting remains essential to securing better representation and addressing local problems. Ahmed Kadan, a 50-year-old guidance counselor in Baqa al-Gharbiyye, plans to vote for Ra’am, saying the government has neglected Arab communities despite their contributions to Israeli society.

“We live in this state and not in any other place,” Kadan said. “We’re doing our duty but not getting what we need.”