Israeli Arab parties win 19 seats in parliamentary elections
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Kapitalis
The Arab parties’ bloc won 19 seats in the Israeli elections and is organised around the Joint List and Ra’am, the United Arab List. The Joint List brings together Hadash, Ta’al and Balad, led by Yousef Jabareen, with Ahmad Tibi in second place, reports Kapitalis.
Arab lists won 19 seats in the latest Israeli parliamentary elections, according to Kapitalis. They are split between the Joint List, which brings together Hadash, Ta’al and Balad, and Ra’am, the United Arab List.
Reconstituted under an agreement reached on 19 August 2026, the Joint List is led by Yousef Jabareen, Hadash’s president, with Ta’al leader Ahmad Tibi in second place. Balad president Sami Abu Shehadeh withdrew his candidacy on 2 October. Ofer Cassif, a Jewish Hadash MP, is also on the list.
The coalition refuses to join a government led by Gadi Eisenkot because of the war in Gaza and the occupation of southern Lebanon, but said on 28 October that it was ready to help bring down Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Its priorities include tackling crime in Arab communities, increasing their budgets and resuming negotiations towards a Palestinian state.
The result forms part of the gains made by Arab lists discussed in the review of the Israeli elections. On 29 October, Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Arab parties after their historic result, in an article about his accusations against the Arab parties.
