Arab parties eye ‘kingmaker’ role as Israeli vote count continues

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says right-wing parties have won a “decisive majority” among the Zionist public and called for the formation of a “national right-wing government”.

Exit polls, however, show no outright winner and suggest Netanyahu’s coalition is only slightly ahead of the main opposition alliance, though neither side can secure a majority.

Arab parties are projected to win 18-19 seats, collectively, improving on their performance four years ago, though neither main bloc says they’ll invite them to form a government.

Voter turnout stood at 77.7 percent, the highest in nearly 30 years, according to the Central Elections Committee.

With 70 percent of votes counted, the Arab parties have 19 seats so far – an unprecedented number – but we still have 30 percent of the count to go.

Why do Arab parties hold power? Because neither of the main camps has enough seats for a majority to form a government, so they will be considered very important.

If Eisenkot wants to form a government, he will have to rely on the Arab vote, if not to join him in government, then at least to provide what is known as a “safety-net scenario”, meaning they will not vote against him.

But the prospect of such a scenario is fading as Eisenkot’s numbers decline and Netanyahu’s rise in the ongoing vote count.

Cannot disregard Arab vote in Israeli politics

Daniel Shek, a former Israeli ambassador, says the Arab vote is a natural part of the bloc against Netanyahu’s far-right alliance.

“I don’t think the fact that Netanyahu’s camp has more votes than the other Jewish camp means that it has the lead,” he told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv.

“Because you have to count the Arab votes in the anti-Netanyahu bloc – even if they are not part of that coalition, they will always vote against the Netanyahu government.”

Shek said the drop in the Netanyahu coalition’s projected seats is a clear “rejection and a repudiation by a large portion of the Israeli electorate” of its policies over the past four years.

“Probably the most important phenomenon of this election is the rise and the revival of the Arab vote. The statement is clear: you cannot disregard such a large portion of the electorate in the calculations for Israeli politics.”

Lawmaker condemns ‘destructive direction’ of Netanyahu-led coalition

Gilad Kariv, Knesset member from the Democrats, says Israel is in a “different political reality” after the election, urging the opposition bloc to work with Arab parties.

“The fully right-wing coalition has lost quite a few seats. It will most likely be unable to form a government in a similar setup,” he wrote on X.

“The opposition has grown stronger – both in its representation of the liberal Jewish public and in its representation of the Arab public. A very large majority, by a margin of hundreds of thousands, voted against Benjamin Netanyahu,” Kariv added.

“A huge part of the Israeli public – who serve, work, contribute and create – expects us to make significant and fateful decisions for Israel’s future and to continue acting together, with full recognition that it is forbidden to let Netanyahu and his partners continue to lead our country in the destructive direction they have taken in the last four years.”

Source: Al Jazeera