Z.T.KOR: WHY IS ISRAEL TRYING TO BAN ARAB PARTIES FROM PARTICIPATING IN ELECTIONS?

 

WHY IS ISRAEL TRYING TO BAN ARAB PARTIES FROM PARTICIPATING IN ELECTIONS?

Zahide Tuba Kor

Note: I wrote the short piece below for Kazim Alam from TRT World, who had asked for my views. For the news analysis authored by Alam, see “Why Netanyahu is trying to erase Arab parties before elections”, TRT World, 17.9.2026, https://www.trtworld.com/article/5b0904d221c3

 

Israel has been in a state of political deadlock since 2018. There were four primary reasons for this:

(i) the crisis that erupted in 2018 regarding the long-standing military service exemption for the Haredim (Ultra-Orthodox), which led to the resignation of Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman—leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party—and his move to the opposition, thereby causing Netanyahu to lose his governing majority;

(ii) corruption investigations and the deep polarization of the nation into pro- and anti-Netanyahu camps;

(iii) ministers breaking away from the Likud party due to conflicts of interest to form new parties and join the opposition against Netanyahu;

(iv) a shift in the political balance caused by voters of Palestinian/Arab origin—who make up one-fifth of the electorate—abandoning their boycott and turning out to vote en masse.

Among these four reasons, the last has been the structural one, not something temporary related to ongoing political problems. So, it is the most important one.

Arab parties began securing 10–15 seats in the 120-member Knesset, making it difficult to form a government composed solely of Jewish parties. Consequently, Israel set a record by holding five parliamentary elections in just three and a half years: April 9, 2019; September 17, 2019; March 2, 2020; March 23, 2021; and November 1, 2022. Had the events of October 7 not occured in 2023 and had the possibility of Netanyahu’s imprisonment not looming, the existing government would likely have headed toward early elections.

Arab parties played a significant role in the failure to form a stable coalition government composed of Jewish parties between 2019 and 2021, a period that saw three early elections held within just 11 months. Recognizing this, Netanyahu altered his tactics prior to the 2021 elections. He tried to encourage the Arab voters to vote for his Likud Party, and meanwhile, he made political maneuvers aimed at splitting the Arab vote —and thereby keeping Arab parties below the electoral threshold. But all these tactics backfired, and his opponents were able to form the coalition government with external support from the Ra'am party.

It is evident that Arab parties will once again drive Israeli politics into a deadlock in the upcoming election. The definitive solution is to ban Arab parties, and redistribute the parliamentary seats currently held by them among Jewish parties. The prevailing political and social climate in Israel—which has become radicalized since October 7, by considering the entire Arab population as either terrorist or a threat—is conducive to this shift. No political party can afford to seek external support from Arab parties as was done in 2021. That means a permanent political instability is waiting Israel.

The Basic Law enacted in 2018, which defines Israel exclusively as the nation-state of the Jewish people, was already a harbinger of these times. Politics will now be aligned with that Basic Law.

 

NOTE: For detail on the various tricks Netanyahu orchestrated on the eve of the 2021 elections to neutralize the impact of Arab votes and win the race, see  Zahide Tuba Kor, Ortadoğu’da Ezberleri Bozmak: Bölgesel Analiz Nasıl Yapılmalı?, Küre Yayınları, s. 185-188.