Israel elections: What the record tally by Arab parties means for Zionist politics

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

51% : Arab parties, which are mostly supported by the Palestinian citizens of Israel, received aresounding victoryin the October 27 election, changing the balance of power in the Knesset.With roughly 90 percent of ballots counted as of Thursday, the two main Arab-led parties - the Joint List and Ra'am - are on track for a combined count of19 seats.Their total isnearly doublethe previous count of 10 and well above the 2020 record of 15 seats.According to thelatest tally, Netanyahu's right-wing and ultra-Orthodox bloc is expected to win 53 seats, while the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot is set to bag 48 seats.
50% : It creates an opportunity for the two Arab parties to assert their democratic credentials in a country where Palestinian Israelis have long been treated assecond-class citizens.The community, which lives inseparate towns, consists of the people whose ancestors stayed put during the Nakba, the mass expulsion of over 750,000 Palestinians following the creation of Israel in 1948.The level of discrimination against Palestinian Israelis, who now make up roughly 20 percent of the country's population, hasrisendramatically since the October 7 attacks three years ago.Towns dominated by the Palestinian Israeli community saw a significant shift in voting patterns.
48% : Belder notes that the main task for the Arab parties is to convert their Knesset seats into material improvements in the daily lives of the Palestinian citizens of Israel.
33% : Theirturnouthit 80 percent, the highest in decades.They voted in large numbers because of deep frustration with the most right-wing government in Israel's history and its far-right ministers, who havevowedto "Judaise" parts of Israel populated by Palestinian Israelis.

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