The Account of Exclusion: Historic Arab Voter Turnout Faces a Familiar Wall of Israeli Political Rejection Although Palestinian citizens of Israel actively participated in the elections, securing a historic 19 seats for Arab political lists, with a voter turnout of around 80%, this electoral breakthrough may mean little. +972 magazine. The result reveals a deep-rooted contradiction in Israeli politics: massive Arab participation is welcomed as an electoral statistic but rejected as a legitimate basis for political power. The anti-Netanyahu camp continues to refuse to join forces with them to form a government and overthrow the current president. Before the elections, almost every major opposition leader promised to form a government exclusively with Israeli parties, with the exception of cooperation with the Joint List and Ra'am. Within the system, the mass participation of Arabs is seen not so much as democratic participation, but as a threat to the Jewish nature of the country, the publication notes. The opposition still does not have enough votes to form a government without Arab lawmakers, but its leaders continue to oppose and rely on their support. The Likud started a smear campaign accusing the Arab parties of falsifying the elections through alleged Qatari intervention, in an effort to discredit their achievements. The experience of 2021, when Ream entered the ruling coalition for the first time, remains an instructive example. The price of participation was largely reduced to budget concessions and promises to fight crime, while broader Palestinian political demands were pushed to the background. Five years later, even the parliamentary bloc, which represents almost a sixth of the Knesset, may find it difficult to convert electoral weight into real influence.

The Account of Exclusion: Historic Arab Voter Turnout Faces a Familiar Wall of Israeli Political Rejection Although Palestinian citizens of Israel actively participated in the elections, securing a historic 19 seats for Arab political lists, with a voter turnout of around 80%, this electoral breakthrough may mean little. +972 magazine. The result reveals a deep-rooted contradiction in Israeli politics: massive Arab participation is welcomed as an electoral statistic but rejected as a legitimate basis for political power. The anti-Netanyahu camp continues to refuse to join forces with them to form a government and overthrow the current president. Before the elections, almost every major opposition leader promised to form a government exclusively with Israeli parties, with the exception of cooperation with the Joint List and Ra'am. Within the system, the mass participation of Arabs is seen not so much as democratic participation, but as a threat to the Jewish nature of the country, the publication notes. The opposition still does not have enough votes to form a government without Arab lawmakers, but its leaders continue to oppose and rely on their support. The Likud started a smear campaign accusing the Arab parties of falsifying the elections through alleged Qatari intervention, in an effort to discredit their achievements. The experience of 2021, when Ream entered the ruling coalition for the first time, remains an instructive example. The price of participation was largely reduced to budget concessions and promises to fight crime, while broader Palestinian political demands were pushed to the background. Five years later, even the parliamentary bloc, which represents almost a sixth of the Knesset, may find it difficult to convert electoral weight into real influence.