{"id":3450,"date":"2026-10-28T18:04:37","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T13:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3450"},"modified":"2026-10-28T18:04:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T13:04:37","slug":"israeli-arab-parties-hold-key-as-netanyahu-falls-short-of-majority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3450","title":{"rendered":"Israeli Arab parties hold key as Netanyahu falls short of majority"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Results from Israel\u2019s hard-fought election pointed Wednesday to no clear winner as a leader of the Arab minority appealed to a hesitant opposition to join forces to end the divisive reign of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With more than three-quarters of the vote counted, Netanyahu\u2019s right-wing bloc was slightly ahead but still short of a majority in Tuesday\u2019s election, the first since the October 7, 2023, attack, which has led Israel to wage war in Gaza and across the region.<\/p>\n

Both Netanyahu, Israel\u2019s longest-serving prime minister who is allied with far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, and Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief leading a broad opposition bloc, vowed that they would seek to form the next government.<\/p>\n

But neither looks set to reach the 61-seat threshold for a majority. With 77 per cent of ballots counted, Netanyahu\u2019s bloc had 54 of the 120 seats in parliament and Eisenkot\u2019s opposition had 49.<\/p>\n

The final results could still change, but one place of clear gains was among Israeli Arab lists, which were set to jump to 17 seats.<\/p>\n

Voters from the community, descendants of Palestinians who stayed after Israel\u2019s creation and who make up around 20 per cent of the population, have been enraged by the Netanyahu government\u2019s ultra-nationalist Jewish vision for the country and the Palestinian territories.<\/p>\n

Yousef Jabareen, head of the leftist Arab-majority Joint List, said the Israeli public had voted for new leadership, and \u201canyone who wants to offer a substantive and genuine alternative to Netanyahu\u2019s blood-soaked government will have to talk to us\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s either the continuation of racism, the continuation of exclusion and the continuation of supremacy, or a genuine Jewish-Arab partnership,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Eisenkot has resisted allying with Arab parties. Netanyahu during the campaign relentlessly attacked the opposition by saying it would put Arabs in power, running on the slogan: \u201cEither the Right or Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yair Golan, the head of Israel\u2019s main left-wing party and a member of Eisenkot\u2019s camp, became the first member of the opposition camp to call for an alliance with Arab parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cNetanyahu lost. I know how to count to 120,\u201d Golan said in a social media post.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must no longer accept Netanyahu\u2019s racist division between Jewish votes and Arab votes.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Eisenkot\u2019s camp also includes right-wingers who share many of Netanyahu\u2019s hawkish views and have adamantly rejected working with Arab lawmakers.<\/p>\n

Arab lawmakers could also give Eisenkot support in parliamentary votes on an ad hoc basis, enabling him to maintain a minority government without joining a coalition, although few observers believe such an arrangement would survive for long.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Iran conflict<\/h3>\n

A lack of a clear majority for either camp could mean weeks spent trying to cobble together coalitions, with possible new elections on the horizon if negotiations fail.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe everybody lost in these elections but the Arab parties. And for the Arab parties, it\u2019s unclear that they can make use of their huge success,\u201d Hebrew University of Jerusalem political scientist Gideon Rahat said.<\/p>\n

A stalemate could in the immediate term benefit Netanyahu, who would remain caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed.<\/p>\n

Both Netanyahu and Eisenkot appeared to indicate another factor was on the horizon \u2014 an Israeli attack alongside the United States on Iran.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu ordered bombing campaigns against Iran both last year and earlier this year, reluctantly stopping only after President Donald Trump reached a now-moribund ceasefire.<\/p>\n

In the days leading up to the election, Netanyahu repeatedly called for the overthrow of Iran\u2019s government. News reports, which Netanyahu denied, said military top brass pushed back on his plans for pre-election action.<\/p>\n

Trump has said that the United States is no longer negotiating with Iran but will not attack until after next Tuesday\u2019s US midterm elections, in which his Republican Party is forecast to lose ground.<\/p>\n

Speaking to supporters at a rally, Netanyahu said that Israel had a \u201cunique opportunity\u201d with Trump to \u201cforever eliminate the existential threat of Iran\u201d.<\/p>\n

Eisenkot in his own post-election appearance, warned Israel\u2019s security chiefs that they must serve the national interests and not the political needs of Netanyahu, who is a caretaker prime minister \u201cwithout a mandate\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cNetanyahu, don\u2019t you dare use Israel\u2019s security for your political needs,\u201d Eisenkot said.<\/p>\n

<\/a>President\u2019s role<\/h3>\n

All eyes will be on President Isaac Herzog, who usually keeps a low-key ceremonial role but who must decide whom to task with the first chance to form a government.<\/p>\n

Herzog has reportedly supported a unity government, which could take on more urgency if Netanyahu attacks Iran, although Eisenkot has publicly ruled out serving with him.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu, who has served as prime minister on and off for more than 19 years, has divided Israeli society.<\/p>\n

Facing criminal charges over corruption that he denies, Netanyahu has sought to revamp the judiciary.<\/p>\n

He has also allied with far-right champions of extremist settlers who attack Palestinians in the West Bank with virtual impunity.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu is also wanted by the International Criminal Court over Israel\u2019s devastating war in Gaza, where residents expressed uncertainty Wednesday as to what the outcome might mean for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur fear is that these elections might result in the emergence of an even worse leader and those who are more violent and bloodthirsty,\u201d displaced Gazan Huda al-Houli told AFP.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Results from Israel\u2019s hard-fought election pointed Wednesday to no clear winner as a leader of the Arab minority appealed to a hesitant opposition to join forces to end the divisive reign of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. With more than three-quarters of the vote counted, Netanyahu\u2019s right-wing bloc was slightly ahead but still short of a majority in Tuesday\u2019s election, the first since the October 7, 2023, attack, which has led Israel to wage war in Gaza and across the region. Both Netanyahu, Israel\u2019s longest-serving prime minister who is allied with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3450\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}