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<\/a><\/p>\nRa\u2019am party chairman Mansour Abbas appears after the national election on Oct. 27, 2026, in the northern Israeli city of Sakhnin. (Michael Giladi\/Flash90)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Following Tuesday\u2019s vote, Netanyahu\u2019s bloc was projected to win 53 seats in the Knesset, Israel\u2019s legislature, while the camp of his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, is projected to win 48 seats. That means both fall short of the 61 votes required to form a new majority governing coalition. <\/p>\n
One of the most significant shifts in electoral politics coming out of Tuesday\u2019s results was the success of Israel\u2019s two Arab parties, the Joint List and Ra\u2019am, which nearly doubled their representation to 19 seats. <\/p>\n
Those gains would be enough to give the Netanyahu or Eisenkot blocs the necessary seats to form a coalition, but neither has publicly indicated a willingness to include Arab-led parties in their coalitions. The idea is also anathema to much of the Jewish Israeli electorate after the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, U.S. Jewish voices urged Eisenkot and his allies \u2013 collectively known as the \u201cchange\u201d bloc \u2013 to welcome the Arab-Israeli parties as partners for implementing that change. <\/p>\n
Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of the liberal Zionist lobby J Street, hailed the \u201cextraordinarily high voter turnout,\u201d estimated at nearly 78% of eligible voters, and praised \u201cthe historic participation of Arab citizens of Israel,\u201d saying that \u201ctheir voices and votes are a vital part of Israel\u2019s democratic fabric.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a moment for the Jewish opposition parties to demonstrate genuine leadership by reaching out to the Arab parties and working together to form an alternative government,\u201d Ben-Ami continued. \u201cIsrael cannot build a stronger, more inclusive democracy while treating the political representatives of one-fifth of its population as illegitimate governing partners.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dan Shapiro, former U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Obama administration, commended the voters for creating an \u201cimportant opportunity for change.\u201d That change, he added, could occur if Eisenkot\u2019s bloc worked with Arab parties. <\/p>\n
Shapiro added in a follow-up post that \u201cin almost no scenario\u201d would far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich \u201ccontinue to have the influence they currently enjoy.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cEnsuring that is the case is an important incentive to the opposition bloc to avoid going to new elections, which would extend the damaging tenure of these extremist ministers,\u201d Shapiro said. <\/p>\n
Gabriel Epstein, a senior policy associate at the Israel Policy Forum, encouraged Eisenkot and his partners not to shy away from taking the historic step of joining with Ra\u2019am and Joint List, both of whose support they would need to come to power. <\/p>\n
Epstein said in a post on X that there were benefits beyond politics: \u201cGreater integration of the Arab community into Israeli society is also key for political and democratic legitimacy.\u201d <\/p>\n
Israelis for Peace NYC, a self-described group of \u201canti-occupation activists,\u201d praised Palestinian citizens of Israel for voting in unprecedented numbers and delivering \u201ca victory to the anti-Netanyahu bloc\u201d by dislodging the current ruling coalition. At the same time, however, the group slammed the change bloc for \u201crefusing to accept this gift, out of no other reason but deep-rooted, unexamined and systemic racism.\u201d <\/p>\n
Describing the current choice as \u201ca shared future or no future at all,\u201d Israelis for Peace warned that a fifth of the population is \u201cbeing completely and shamelessly disregarded,\u201d referring to the approximately 20% of Israel that is Arab.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this isn\u2019t over,\u201d the group added. \u201cThe liberal majority in Israel can hit the streets in mass demonstrations, like it has done so well against Netanyahu for four years, and pressure Eisenkot and other opposition leaders to sit with the Arab parties.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Jacob Stoil, a research professor of Middle East Security Studies at the U.S. Army War College, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that \u201cthere are some real challenges to putting together a coalition that includes the Arab parties,\u201d given the political positions they take and the campaign promises made by Eisenkot\u2019s partners. <\/p>\n
Although one party, the Islamist Ra\u2019am, previously served in a coalition and has expressed willingness to do so again, multiple members of Eisenkot\u2019s bloc have pledged not to sit with an Arab party. Meanwhile, the second party, the Joint List, rejects the definition of Israel as a Jewish state and therefore refuses to serve in a Zionist-led government.<\/p>\n
One plausible option could be \u201ca minority government with the Arab parties essentially voting to keep the government in office and protecting it,\u201d according to Stoil, who said his comments did not reflect the views of the U.S. Army or the U.S. government. But he warned that such a minority government could \u201ccreate a lot of challenges in passing legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a realistic pathway,\u201d Stoil said, noting, however, that this pathway toward partnership with Arab parties can only be determined once the full results of the election are tallied. <\/p>\n
At this point, he explained, there are still many things that can change. For example, Israel\u2019s Central Elections Committee has yet to tally ballots cast by soldiers, prisoners and diplomats stationed abroad, which will reportedly add another 430,000-480,000 votes to the mix.<\/p>\n
The Jewish Federations of North America, meanwhile, released a neutral statement after the election, applauding \u201cthe shared values that bind Israelis and North American Jews, including a deep commitment to democratic principles and civic participation.\u201d The organization said it would continue working \u201cwith leaders across the political spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobbying group whose influence has played a sizable role in November\u2019s U.S. midterm elections, offered similar accolades to Israelis for showing \u201ctheir commitment to democracy through free and fair elections.\u201d <\/p>\n
The massive voter turnout among multiple religious groups \u201cunderscores Israel\u2019s diversity and steadfast commitment to the democratic process \u2013 a value shared and cherished in America,\u201d an AIPAC statement added.<\/p>\n