{"id":3530,"date":"2026-10-30T12:03:52","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T07:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3530"},"modified":"2026-10-30T12:03:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T07:03:52","slug":"palestinian-parties-emerge-as-kingmakers-after-strong-turnout-in-israeli-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3530","title":{"rendered":"Palestinian parties emerge as kingmakers after strong turnout in Israeli elections"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A sharp rise in voter turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel has given Arab political parties a potentially decisive role in determining the country\u2019s next government, following parliamentary elections that left both major political blocs short of a majority.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s Likud party emerged as the largest party, but its electoral bloc secured only 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset. The Jewish-led opposition bloc won 48 seats, while Palestinian parties secured a combined 19 seats.<\/p>\n

The turnout among eligible Palestinian voters was estimated at 80 per cent, marking a significant increase in participation among a community that makes up around 21 per cent of Israel\u2019s population.<\/p>\n

The two main political lists representing Palestinian citizens, the United Arab List (Ra\u2019am) and the Joint List, could therefore influence which political camp forms the next government.<\/p>\n

Analysts attributed the increased participation to anger over Israel\u2019s war on Gaza, concerns about racism and dissatisfaction with the policies of Netanyahu\u2019s governing coalition.<\/p>\n

However, several leading opposition politicians have ruled out forming a government with Palestinian parties, despite their combined parliamentary strength.<\/p>\n

Former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid rejected the possibility of joining a coalition with the Arab parties. Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman also ruled out such an alliance, saying he would sit alongside neither Netanyahu nor Palestinian political leader Ahmad Tibi.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Netanyahu questions surge in Arab turnout<\/h3>\n

Netanyahu\u2019s Likud party has questioned the sharp rise in Palestinian voter participation and called on Israel\u2019s internal security service, Shin Bet, to investigate possible foreign interference.<\/p>\n

The move has drawn criticism from those who say it undermines the legitimacy of Palestinian citizens exercising their democratic right to vote.<\/p>\n

Despite criticising Netanyahu\u2019s government over corruption, governance and its international standing, much of the Jewish-led opposition has remained reluctant to accept support from Palestinian political parties.<\/p>\n

The left-wing Democrats have shown greater willingness to cooperate with them, while other opposition figures have avoided committing to an alliance.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Palestinian leaders demand recognition of election result<\/h3>\n

Orly Noy, who stood for the Palestinian-dominated Balad party, said the increased turnout reflected growing concerns among Palestinian citizens about their rights, security and the government\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n

She said Palestinians had increasingly felt that their voting rights were among the few remaining tools available to them to influence political decisions.<\/p>\n

Political analyst Nimrod Flaschenberg said the reluctance to work with Arab parties reflected deeper disagreements over Israel\u2019s identity, citizenship and political system.<\/p>\n

Mauricio Lapchik, Hebrew campaign director for the Joint List, also criticised the opposition\u2019s reluctance to recognise the Arab parties\u2019 electoral strength.<\/p>\n

He argued that the combined 67 seats held by the opposition and Palestinian parties represented a parliamentary majority against Netanyahu, but that Palestinian votes were not being treated equally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A sharp rise in voter turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel has given Arab political parties a potentially decisive role in determining the country\u2019s next government, following parliamentary elections that left both major political blocs short of a majority. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s Likud party emerged as the largest party, but its electoral bloc secured only 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset. The Jewish-led opposition bloc won 48 seats, while Palestinian parties secured a combined 19 seats. The turnout among eligible Palestinian voters was estimated at 80 per cent, marking…<\/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-3530","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\/3530","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=3530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3530\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}