Arab-Israeli Bloc Aims to Oust Netanyahu in Vote
They will not govern Israel, but Arab-majority lists could be the kingmakers in next week’s close-fought elections, guided by voters fed up with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Arab-Israeli bloc’s shared objective ahead of the Oct 27 vote: bring down what its leaders call a racist government.
The heads of the two predominantly Arab lists set out that objective in interviews. Arab Israelis, also known as Palestinian citizens of Israel, account for about 21 per cent of the population. They descend from Palestinians who remained within Israel’s borders after the state’s creation in 1948, and have long complained of discrimination from the Jewish majority.
As Israel’s rightward shift tests the Arab minority’s sense of belonging, many will vote to steer the country away from the far-right. In Tuesday’s vote, they will be represented by two lists.
Raam, a Hebrew acronym for United Arab List, is a moderate Islamist party headed by Mansour Abbas. In 2021, he joined a short-lived coalition of Netanyahu’s opponents, making Raam the first Arab party to join an Israeli government.
The far-left Joint List, led by Yousef Jabareen, brings together three parties with communist and Palestinian nationalist leanings. Abbas and Jabareen said they were ready, under certain conditions, to cooperate with the opposition, particularly the bloc of Netanyahu’s main rival Gadi Eisenkot, which polls neck and neck with the premier’s.
Depending on seats won, they could help Eisenkot secure a majority in the 120-member parliament and possibly join the next government.
Why the Arab-Israeli bloc could decide the election
The Knesset has 120 seats, and a government needs 61 for a majority. When the two main blocs poll neck and neck, a handful of seats held by smaller lists can decide who governs.
With about 21 per cent of the population, Arab Israelis are a large minority, but their political weight has often lagged their numbers, held back by turnout, fragmentation, and reluctance by Jewish-led parties to rely on Arab support.
This time, the two lists signal a common purpose. Both want Netanyahu out, and both say they are open, on conditions, to working with his main rival’s bloc. That unity, plus a close race, gives them kingmaker potential.
The precedent matters too. Raam’s entry into government in 2021 broke a long-standing barrier, showing an Arab party could sit in an Israeli coalition. The experiment was short-lived, but it changed the calculation for leaders who once treated such cooperation as impossible.
What conditions could shape any deal
Abbas and Jabareen have not spelled out their conditions in full, but the shape of any negotiation is clear. Raam has previously sought budgets and services for Arab towns, action on crime there, and recognition of unrecognised Bedouin villages.
The Joint List takes a harder line on Palestinian rights and the occupation. Any joint approach to Eisenkot’s bloc must bridge those differences, and Eisenkot must weigh Arab support against the risk of losing centrist voters.
For Netanyahu, the danger is the mirror image. If Arab turnout rises, his path to 61 seats narrows. If Arab voters stay home, his task becomes easier. Turnout in Arab towns is therefore a number both camps will watch closely.
The wider region will also watch the result. Israeli forces have displaced families and demolished buildings in the occupied West Bank’s Hebron, while Jordan’s king has pledged an iron-fist response after an attack in Karak. Diplomacy around Iran continues in parallel, as Iran’s president has blamed the United States for the failure of an interim deal and Tehran has made an offer over the Strait of Hormuz.
What happens after Tuesday
If neither main bloc wins a clear majority, the president will consult party leaders and ask one to form a government. That process can take weeks, and the Arab lists’ seats could decide who gets the first chance.
If Eisenkot’s bloc needs Arab support, the negotiation will test whether the 2021 precedent can be repeated on a larger scale. If Netanyahu’s bloc wins outright, the Arab lists return to opposition, but with a renewed claim to a clear platform.
Either way, the vote marks a shift. The two lists no longer present themselves only as protest voices, but as a bloc that can decide who governs, asking voters to judge them on that claim.
When is Israel’s election?
The election takes place on Tuesday, Oct 27, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing a close challenge from Gadi Eisenkot’s bloc.
