JERUSALEM (The Thursday Times) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the country’s Arab citizens on Tuesday of “raiding the polling stations and stealing the elections”, as turnout in Israel’s general election surged to its highest level in decades and Arab-led parties accused him of inciting hatred to scare his voters to the polls.
In a series of posts on X, Netanyahu described Arab voters as “Muslim Brotherhood supporters”. In another, he shared a picture of a long queue at a polling station that appeared to show Palestinian citizens of Israel and urged right-wing Israelis to “go out and vote for Likud”, calling it “a matter of life and death for us”. Palestinian citizens make up about a fifth of Israel’s population.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made a last-minute appeal of his own, saying turnout “in the Arab sector is unprecedented” and warning of a “dangerous left-wing government”. “Do not despair! It is still possible to win,” he wrote.
‘Scare tactic’
Mansour Abbas, leader of the United Arab List, called Netanyahu’s comments “a scare tactic to mobilise right-wing voters and drive them to the polls”. Yousef Jabareen, who leads the Joint List, said Netanyahu knew that “we can put an end to his bloody reign”. Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh urged Arab citizens to keep turning out “in droves”, saying the images that frightened “racists” encouraged his community.
Rights groups raised the alarm over voting in Arab towns. Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, said it had received many reports of attempts to discourage Arab voters, of queues that moved very slowly or stopped, and of a shortage of ballot slips printed in Arabic. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel said delays had been reported in at least 18 communities and asked the Central Elections Committee to investigate “whether these delays are deliberate”. It also reported a heavy police and National Guard presence at a polling station in the Negev.
Record turnout
By 6pm, 66.7 per cent of eligible voters had cast a ballot, according to the Central Elections Committee, up from 57.7 per cent at the same point in 2022 and already above the final turnout in that election. The committee rejected a request by Likud to keep polls open beyond 10pm (1am in Pakistan), though anyone still in line at closing time will be allowed to vote.
Netanyahu has argued that his main rival, former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, could not govern without Arab parties. Eisenkot has ruled out working with them, though some scenarios see them supporting a minority government from outside to remove Netanyahu. Read our earlier report on the vote, and what people in Islamabad told The Thursday Times about Netanyahu’s bid for another term.
