BLOG: Israeli elections explained and what it means for Arab-Israeli's

In April, Israel had a national election in which the Likud coalition party, led by current Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, won but failed to recruit enough parties to join its Knesset — Israeli Parliament — to form a government.

As a result, Israel had its second national election Sept. 17 where Netanyahu's party was not as successful in coming out on top. The polls in April found that the majority bloc with 33 seats went to Blue and White (Kahol Lavan), led by Benny Gantz, which is the main opposition to the second largest bloc Netanyahu’s Likud party which got 32 seats. Most striking, though, was who came out as the third largest bloc with 13 seats: the Joint List comprised of Israel’s main Arab political parties.

How do Israeli elections work

There are 61 total seats in the Israeli Knesset which means to secure the majority bloc a coalition-party must win at least 32 seats. When a party secures the largest bloc, from there it must recruit and secure smaller parties to fill the remaining seats. This proves challenging in Israeli politics as parties often demand favors — typically by supporting policies that aligns with the respective party’s main issues — to help the main party leader form a government.

This is exactly what led to Netanyahu’s failure in April because Yisrael Beiteinu, led by former Netanyahu cabinet member Avigdor Lieberman, directly opposes the contentious issue in Israel — that the Netanyahu administration advanced — of allowing the ultra-Orthodox to be exempt from mandatory military service. This caused tension between the two because Netanyahu relies on the ultra-Orthodox vote.

What does this mean for Israeli-Arabs

The emerging prominence of Arab-Israeli political parties in the Knesset puts them in a unique position of power that they never had before.

Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint List, wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times Sept. 22 that he endorses Benny Gantz to lead and end Netanyahu’s reign. And, he notes that this shift in power would not have been possible without the higher Arab-Israeli voter turnout in April's election.

“The Israeli government has done everything in its power to reject those of us who are Arab Palestinian citizens,” he wrote. “But our influence has only grown.”

“Arab Palestinian citizens cannot change the course of Israel alone, but change is impossible without us.”

Cover image from Rafael Nir/Unsplash