NAZARETH: They will not govern Israel, but Arab-majority lists could be the kingmakers in Israel’s close-fought elections next week, guided by a voter base fed up with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In interviews, the heads of the two predominantly Arab lists put forward a shared objective ahead of the Oct 27 vote: bring down what they say is a racist government. Arab Israelis, also known as Palestinian citizens of Israel, account for about 21 per cent of the country’s population.

They are desc­endants of Palestinians who remained within Israel’s borders after the state’s creation in 1948, and have long complained of discrimination from Israel’s Jewish majority.

As Israel’s rightward shift severely tests the Arab minority’s sense of belonging in society, many will head to the ballot box aiming to steer the country away from the far-right. In Tuesday’s vote, they will be represented by two lists.

Raam, a Hebrew acronym for United Arab List, is a moderate Islamist party headed by Mansour Abbas.

In 2021, he agreed to join a short-lived coalition of Netanyahu’s opponents, making Raam the first Arab party to join an Israeli government.

The far-left Joint List, led by Yousef Jabareen, brings together three parties with a mixture of communist and Palestinian nationalist leanings. Abbas and Jabareen said they were ready — under certain conditions — to cooperate with the opposition, particularly the bloc of Netanyahu’s main rival Gadi Eisenkot, which is polling neck and neck with the premier’s.

Depending on the number of seats won, they could help Eisenkot secure a majority in Israel’s 120-member parliament and possibly participate in the next government.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2026