Israeli political shifts follow Arab and Palestinian voter mobilization

Recent legislative elections in Israel have seen a significant surge in support for Arab and Palestinian political parties. The Raam party and the Joint List, representing various Palestinian and anti-Zionist Jewish groups, secured 19 mandates in the Knesset. This represents a doubling of their previous electoral strength and a major mobilization of the Arab electorate.

These results have created a potential path for former army chief Gadi Eisenkot to form a new government. With 19 mandates, Eisenkot’s Zionist alliance could potentially command 67 seats, compared to 53 for Benjamin Netanyahu. Eisenkot’s coalition includes diverse groups ranging from social democrats to right-wing factions, united by opposition to Netanyahu’s constitutional changes and calls for an investigation into the October 7 attacks.

To participate in a coalition, Arab and Jewish-Palestinian lists have been asked to explicitly support Israel as a democratic Jewish state and condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization. Analysts note a shift in political identity among these representatives, who increasingly self-identify as Palestinian rather than Israeli Arabs, complicating the traditional political landscape.