Israeli Opposition Faces Backlash Over Excluding Arab Parties

WHO:

Al Jazeera - Sami Abu Shehadeh leads Balad, one of the three parties in the Joint List; he was not a candidate in the election.

Al Jazeera - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads the right-wing bloc; Gadi Eisenkot leads the opposition bloc. Far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir were named by Abu Shehadeh as opponents.

Al Jazeera - Yousef Jabareen leads the Joint List. Danny Ayalon is a former Israeli ambassador to the United States; Nour Odeh reported from Ramallah.

NPR - Alon Pinkas, an Israeli political analyst and former diplomat who advised former Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Shimon Peres, criticized opposition leaders’ reluctance to work with Arab-led parties as “myopic and reckless.” NPR’s Steve Inskeep interviewed him.

NY Post - Netanyahu accused Arab parties of supporting terrorism and the elimination of the Jewish state.

WHAT:

Al Jazeera - Abu Shehadeh said Israel has “two different judicial systems, one for the Jews and one for the Arabs.”

Al Jazeera - Abu Shehadeh described Netanyahu as “a war criminal.”

Al Jazeera - A UN commission said Israel continued to commit genocide in Gaza after the US-brokered ceasefire; the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for war crimes during the Gaza war.

Al Jazeera - Danny Ayalon said turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel was “really unprecedented”; he said Eisenkot’s bloc could join the two Arab parties to pass the threshold, but it would take “political wizardry.”

NPR - Alon Pinkas said Netanyahu “cannot” form a government and questioned why opposition leaders’ concerns about Arab-led parties’ effect on Israel’s Jewish identity did not also apply to ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, which he said describe themselves as non-Zionist.

Al Jazeera - Arab parties were projected to win a record 19 seats, potentially giving them decisive leverage. With 85 percent of votes counted, Netanyahu’s bloc had at least 53 seats and Eisenkot’s opposition 48; 61 seats are needed to govern.

Al Jazeera - Abu Shehadeh condemned the refusal to form a coalition with Arab parties, saying, “This is racism,” and calling them “a legitimate elected leadership of the national minority.”

NPR - Pinkas said Eisenkot could form a coalition with Arab-led parties or a minority government supported by them on major legislation and confidence votes. Netanyahu and Eisenkot have rejected working with those parties. Netanyahu called reliance on their support “a shame and a disgrace.”

Al Jazeera - Abu Shehadeh said Arab citizens’ first promise was to prevent Netanyahu and far-right ministers from returning to power. He said they oppose “genocide” and “apartheid” and seek “freedom, justice and equality.”

Al Jazeera - Israel’s elections committee voted to disqualify Abu Shehadeh at Ben-Gvir’s request. Abu Shehadeh withdrew after Supreme Court judges appeared likely to uphold the disqualification.

NY Post - Netanyahu wrote on X that the election had been “stolen by Arab parties that support terrorism and the elimination of the Jewish state.”

WHERE:

Al Jazeera - The election and coalition negotiations concern Israel; Ramallah is in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian citizens of Israel make up about one-fifth of the population.

NPR - Pinkas attributed growing support for Arab-led parties to rising crime and murder rates in Arab communities.

WHY:

Al Jazeera - Nour Odeh said Netanyahu had “scared off everybody from talking to the Palestinian Israeli parties,” leaving him best placed to “call the shots.”

Al Jazeera - Abu Shehadeh said Arab parties were being treated as illegitimate coalition partners despite voter turnout. He said his article about the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack was incorrectly worded and that he intended to call for a political process, not support “armed struggle.”

NPR - Pinkas said Netanyahu’s government had “willfully ignored” Arab communities’ plight by failing to deploy police or investigate killings involving organized crime groups.

HOW:

NY Post - Netanyahu alleged on X that election fraud had occurred.

Al Jazeera - Abu Shehadeh said he withdrew from the election after the Supreme Court panel appeared willing to approve his disqualification; he rejected its grounds.

NPR - Arab-led parties could support a minority government without formally joining its coalition, including by backing legislation and confidence votes.

(UPDATED October 30, 2026 12:25 UTC)

Arab-led parties were projected to win a record 19 seats, potentially deciding Israel’s next government. Netanyahu’s bloc had at least 53 seats, while the opposition held 48; 61 are needed to govern. Both Netanyahu and opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot have rejected relying on Arab parties.

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(UPDATED October 29, 2026 19:04 UTC)

With 85 percent of votes counted, Arab-led parties were projected to win a record 19 seats in Israel’s election, potentially giving them decisive leverage as Netanyahu’s bloc had at least 53 seats and opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot’s had 48, short of the 61 needed to govern. Both leaders have rejected working with the Arab parties, while Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh condemned that stance as racist and said Arab citizens were seeking to prevent Netanyahu and far-right ministers from returning to power; he withdrew from the race after Israel’s Supreme Court appeared likely to uphold his disqualification. Analyst Alon Pinkas said Eisenkot could form a coalition with Arab-led parties or rely on their support for a minority government, calling opposition leaders’ refusal to work with them “myopic and reckless,” while Netanyahu accused Arab parties of supporting terrorism and the elimination of the Jewish state.

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(UPDATED October 29, 2026 17:06 UTC)

Arab-led parties were projected to win a record 19 seats in Israel’s election, potentially giving them decisive leverage as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc held at least 53 seats and the opposition led by Gadi Eisenkot had 48, short of the 61 needed to govern. Both leaders have rejected working with Arab-led parties, despite possible options for a coalition or a minority government backed by their votes, and Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh called that exclusion racist; he withdrew after judges appeared likely to uphold his disqualification from the election. Netanyahu accused Arab parties of supporting terrorism and the elimination of Israel, while analyst Alon Pinkas said their growing support reflected anger over crime and the government’s failure to address violence in Arab communities.