Daijiworld Media Network - Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv, Oct 16: Palestinian citizens of Israel are facing growing political and social challenges ahead of the October 27 election, even as Arab-led parties could play a decisive role in determining the country’s next prime minister.

Mansour Abbas, leader of the Islamist Ra’am party, has sought to strengthen Arab political participation by focusing on local concerns such as crime and public safety. He condemned Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack and broke a longstanding political taboo in 2021 by bringing an Arab party into an Israeli governing coalition.

However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several of his main rivals have ruled out forming coalitions with Arab-led parties after the election, raising the possibility of prolonged political deadlock or another round of voting.

Palestinian citizens and their descendants account for about 20% of Israel’s population. Although they hold Israeli citizenship and have the right to vote, many face discrimination and growing tensions over the government’s policies towards Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Arab communities are also grappling with high levels of violent crime. According to figures cited by the Associated Press, the homicide rate among Palestinian citizens of Israel is more than 22 times that among Jewish Israelis. The Abraham Initiatives, an organisation advocating equal rights, recorded 184 crime-related killings in Arab communities so far this year. The organisation said only 12% of cases reported in the first half of 2026 had been solved as of July.

Activists have also accused Israeli authorities of disproportionately restricting Palestinian citizens’ freedom of expression, including breaking up anti-war protests, restricting displays of Palestinian flags and arresting people over social media posts. The Israeli government maintains that restrictions on certain forms of speech and protest are driven by security concerns.

Abbas’ decision to join a coalition government in 2021 marked a significant shift in Arab political participation. He argued that entering government offered an opportunity to address the everyday needs of Arab citizens. However, critics accused him of placing local concerns ahead of the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The coalition lasted just over a year, and elections in 2022 returned Netanyahu to power at the head of a government dominated by nationalist and religious parties. Since then, tensions between Jewish and Palestinian citizens have intensified, particularly following the October 7 attack and Israel’s subsequent military offensive in Gaza.

Yousef Jabareen, leader of the Joint List of Arab parties, said the coming election was crucial for preventing further deterioration in the situation. The Joint List adopts a less conciliatory approach towards mainstream Israeli politics than Abbas’ Ra’am party.

Israel’s 120-member Knesset requires a majority of at least 61 seats to form a government. With no single party expected to secure that number, smaller parties could hold considerable influence in coalition negotiations. Arab-led parties could potentially support a minority government from outside a coalition, although major political leaders have so far rejected such arrangements.

The October 7 attack killed about 1,200 people in Israel and resulted in 251 people being taken hostage, according to the figures cited in the report. Israel’s subsequent offensive has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health authorities.

Despite concerns over discrimination, crime and political exclusion, some Palestinian citizens of Israel say voting remains essential. Ahmed Kadan, a guidance counsellor from the Arab town of Baqa al-Gharbiyye, said he intended to vote for Ra’am, arguing that Arab citizens contribute to the country but often feel their needs are neglected.