3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 11
Summary
Nearly 80% of Palestinian Israeli voters cast ballots on Oct. 27, up from about 53% in 2022, lifting two Arab-led parties to a record 19 seats in the 120-seat Knesset.
Fear drove the surge more than optimism: voters cited spiraling crime, home demolitions and increasingly hostile rhetoric and policies under Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition.
924 people were killed in Arab communities during the government’s four years in power—more than double the previous four years—while Arab citizens made up nearly four in five homicide victims in Israel in 2024.
Those seats already shifted coalition math: both Arab factions backed opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, helping him secure 67 recommendations to Netanyahu’s 46 and win the first mandate to form a government.
Whether the turnout becomes lasting political power now hinges on whether Jewish parties work with Arab lawmakers or sideline them again, testing Israel’s claims of representative democracy.