\n The Joint-List picked up a historic 11 seats, while Ra’am took eight [AHMAD GHARABLI \/ AFP via Getty Images]<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, as Israelis headed to the polls to choose a new government, pollsters noted record participation, resulting in the highest turnout in an Israeli election since 1999.<\/p>\n
Though many of these voters were Jewish Israelis, pollsters also took note of high participation among Israel’s Palestinian citizens in the election, with queues reported outside polling stations in Palestinian-majority areas.<\/p>\n
As results poured in through the night, the turnout of Palestinian citizens of Israel, at around 80% and higher than the 77.9% national average, resulted in a record seat distribution for Palestinian parties in the Knesset, with 19 seats held collectively by the Joint-List – made up of Hadash, Ta’al and Balad – as well as Ra’am.<\/p>\n
The ‘existential threat’ posed by a Netanyahu government<\/p>\n
For Israel’s Palestinian citizens, the last four years of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, the most far-right in Israel’s history, have made their position in Israeli society more precarious.<\/p>\n
Among the host of issues are a clampdown on freedom of speech, in particular in opposition to Israel’s war on Gaza<\/a>, an uptick in house demolitions in the Naqab [Negev] desert, and rampant organised crime in the community that\u2019s neglected by the state.<\/p>\n Miriam Azem, International Advocacy Coordinator at The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah), told The New Arab that ahead of the election, “there was a sentiment, at least amongst some of the public, that if we see another Netanyahu, [Bezalel] Smotrich, [Itamar] Ben-Gvir government, that’s going to be an existential threat, and nothing less than that”.<\/p>\n More recently, Azem noted an increasing rhetoric of removing Palestinian citizens from within Israel’s international boundaries by members of a government that belong to the settler community and support settler attacks in the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “The fact that there is a big settlement movement that is actually a part of the governing coalition, I think, scares a lot of people,” she said.<\/p>\n Yet, though surprising for many pundits in Israel, the turnout was expected by the Palestinian parties, who urged their voters to reach a record turnout and put an end to Netanyahu’s government.<\/p>\n “We expected a very high percentage of voting within our community because we live within our community,” Sami Abou Shehadeh, the head of Balad, told The New Arab.<\/p>\n “A very important thing was the extreme policies, the right-wing, fascist, extreme policies of Netanyahu and his gang. These were the main reason why people voted more.”<\/p>\n Abou Shehadeh said that there was a feeling of success in the community because the list had kept its primary election promise, blocking the formation of a Netanyahu government.<\/p>\n “We were telling the people if they will go out and vote in high numbers, Netanyahu will not be able to form a government again with his coalition,” he said, adding, “this is clear in [the] numbers. Because of this Arab participation, Netanyahu and his coalition lost the majority in the Israeli Knesset.”<\/p>\n Coalition troubles and ‘racist’ reactions<\/p>\n Despite the inability of Netanyahu to form a government – holding 53 seats, his bloc is eight short of a majority of 61 – Gadi Eisenkot’s anti-Netanyahu bloc is also hamstrung, falling short with 48 seats.<\/p>\n With campaign pledges not to work with Netanyahu’s Likud party, the Ultra-Orthodox parties, and the Palestinian parties, Eisenkot’s bloc is at a deadlock.<\/p>\n The campaign promises and continued reluctance to work with Palestinian parties, despite their vocal willingness to oust Netanyahu, were labelled by Abou Shehadeh as racism.<\/p>\n “Can you imagine, in any different state, someone who lost the majority and there’s a majority against him in the parliament; it clearly means he lost the election.<\/p>\n “What is preventing Eisenkot from forming the next coalition? It is his racist views regarding the legitimacy of Arab parties.”<\/p>\n “Those who won the elections in numbers must put aside a little bit [of] their racism and start thinking cleverly as serious politicians who want to do change,” Abou Shehadeh said, doubling down on the Joint-Lists efforts to work with Eisenkot and prevent another Netanyahu government.<\/p>\n “If they will do that, we will be happy to do all that is needed in order to prevent Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, and Smotrich from forming the next government in Israel. But if the racism wins, we will all lose together.”<\/p>\n The Joint-List and Ra’am have struggled during the elections to defend the legitimacy of their parties within Israeli politics, both before and since polling day.<\/p>\n Before the election, Israel’s Central Election Committee voted to bar the Palestinian parties, alongside Hadash MK Ofer Casif and Abou Shehadeh.<\/p>\n The Supreme Court overturned the ban, but recommended Abou Shehadeh drop out, as it was likely to uphold the decision and set a legal precedent.<\/p>\n Azem, whose organisation Adalah represented the parties and candidates at the Supreme Court, said the move was an effort to delegitimise Palestinian participation in the political process – one that continued on election day and after the results.<\/p>\n In the aftermath, Netanyahu’s Likud has called for an investigation into allegations of election fraud by Palestinian parties, a move disputed by Palestinian parties, the election panel director, and some Jewish opposition parties.<\/p>\n The rhetoric from\u00a0Netanyahu’s bloc<\/a>\u00a0that the election was ‘stolen’ by Palestinian parties is evidence that “the right to vote for Palestinians is seen as a threat to the State”, Azem said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n