Netanyahu Deploys AI Ad Against Arab Parties as Polls Show 61-Seat Majority Elusive
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Oct 25
Netanyahu Deploys AI Ad Against Arab Parties as Polls Show 61-Seat Majority Elusive
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Oct 25
Summary
An AI-generated ad posted on Netanyahu’s X account depicts challenger Gadi Eisenkot embracing Mansour Abbas, sharpening Netanyahu’s closing argument that any anti-Netanyahu government would depend on Arab parties.
Polls show Eisenkot’s Yashar bloc narrowly ahead but still short of the 61 seats needed to govern, giving Netanyahu an opening to cast Arab-backed coalition math as an existential threat.
Arab parties are projected to win 14 to 15 Knesset seats, and Eisenkot has left limited room for cooperation, saying parties that do not recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization would be excluded.
Among Israel’s roughly 2 million Palestinian citizens—about 20% of the population—anger over crime and discrimination is driving expectations of higher turnout, with one researcher estimating participation could rise from around 50% to 65%.
That turnout could matter more because Arab parties are better positioned this cycle: the Joint List is running unified again, while Abbas’s Ra’am gained former public security deputy minister Yoav Segalovitz, potentially boosting its coalition legitimacy.