Arab parties emerge as King Maker in 2026 Israel elections
With more than 50% of votes polled in the 2026 Israel elections Tuesday already been counted and no coalition reaching the halfway mark, Arab parties have emerged as the King Maker
[Yousef Jabareen, centre, leader of Israel’s Arab-led Joint List, with other members in Nazareth [AFP image/Quality enhanced using Grok AI]
With more than 50% of votes polled in the 2026 Israel elections Tuesday already been counted and no coalition reaching the halfway mark, Arab parties have emerged as the King Maker.
Polling for the total of 120 seats of the Israeli Parliament, Knesset, was held on Tuesday October 27, 2026, registering a historic voter turnout.
As per the reports, the voter turnout in the 2026 national elections in Israel reached over 77% - highest since the 1998 elections, and close to all time high in 1973, as per The Times of Israel.
The counting of votes began soon after the polling ended at 10.00 PM official time - though at some places voting hour was extended to help voters already at the polling booths to cast their votes.
Israel Election Results
As per the results announced at 08:00 AM Wednesday, Netanyahu-led ruling bloc is struggling at 55 seats whereas Gadi Eisenkot led opposition bloc has won 49 seats.
With 27 seats, Netanyahu's Likud party is the major constituent of the right-wing ruling coalition. On the other hand, Yashar, the party founded by Netanyahu's rival Gadi Eisenkot, has won 21 seats, according to Haaretz.
On the other hand, the Arab parties have won a record number of 16 seats.
The halfway mark is 61, and hence, the Arab parties have emerged as the kingmaker, and hence the coalition which will receive the support from these parties will form the new government.
The Arab parties comprise of two main parties – the Joint List and Ra’am. The Joint List has won 12 seats whereas Ra’am has won 04.
Joint List to Support anti-right wing bloc
The Joint List is an alliance of three parties: Hadash, a left-wing party with Jewish and Arab members; Ta’al, led by Ahmad Tibi, which campaigns for the rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel; and Balad, which calls for a state with equal rights for all its citizens, according to Al Jazeera.
Palestinians make up around 21% of the total population of Israel. The Palestinians living in Gaza and West Bank do not have right to vote in the Israeli elections.
The previous highest result for the Arab-majority parties - the Joint List+Ra'am, in Israel was 15 seats in 2020.
The Joint List has said it could act as a “safety net” for an anti-Netanyahu coalition, agreeing not to support it in a confidence vote even without joining the government.
On the other hand, Ra’am, which is led by MK Mansour Abbas, has expressed interest in joining a governing coalition led by the “change bloc” opposed to Benjamin Netanyahu. However, several parties in that bloc have vowed they would not sit with an Arab-majority party, The Times of Israel reported.
Follow ummid.com WhatsApp Channel for all the latest updates.
Select Language to Translate in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic
