{"id":13633,"date":"2026-11-04T17:23:59","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T17:23:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=13633"},"modified":"2026-11-04T17:23:59","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T17:23:59","slug":"palestinian-citizens-of-israel-face-intimidation-after-election-success-israel-election-2026-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=13633","title":{"rendered":"Palestinian citizens of Israel face intimidation after election success | Israel Election 2026 News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Israel has\u00a0officially certified<\/a> its election results \u2013 delivering a blow to right-wing claims of a stolen vote \u2013 but the record 19 seats captured by Palestinian-led parties have triggered aggressive police raids, arbitrary arrests, and targeted interrogations by state security apparatuses.<\/p>\n

The electoral gains made by the parties representing Palestinian citizens of Israel \u2013 the Joint List and the United Arab List (Ra\u2019am) \u2013 could give the Zionist opposition<\/a> to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the upper hand in forming the next government, if they choose to work with the Arab parties.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, Netanyahu and his allies have portrayed the increased vote share for the Palestinian-led parties as the result of illegality<\/a>, a+nd say they represent Jewish Israelis.<\/p>\n

Political analyst Mamoun Abu Amer told Al Jazeera that the political backlash was preplanned.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the beginning, it was clearly a systematic campaign when Arab citizens mobilised heavily, especially in the villages, the Naqab and the Bedouin areas,\u201d Abu Amer said. He noted that the heavy turnout deeply shocked the Israeli political establishment, prompting Netanyahu to launch a smear campaign to discredit the democratic process.<\/p>\n

Ahmad Tibi, leader of the Ta\u2019al Party \u2013 which is part of the Joint List \u2013 shared a similar analysis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no indication that the elections were manipulated in the Arab towns, as everyone expected the voting rate to be high this time in advance due to the bad reality created by this government for our public,\u201d Tibi told Al Jazeera. \u201cOn the contrary, there was a press report on Israel\u2019s Channel 12 television revealing that the Likud party, led by Netanyahu, had prepared and readied a file before the elections to invent this falsehood when the results were issued, because they know with absolute certainty that they will lose the elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Systematic security crackdown<\/h2>\n

The intimidation campaign against Palestinian citizens of Israel materialised through aggressive police actions on election day. As reported by The Jerusalem Post, police arrested several Ra\u2019am supporters for alleged vote-buying, which Likud immediately invoked to claim an attempt to steal the election. However, many of the suspects were quickly released, with a judge noting that suspicions had weakened and that investigators had failed to explain why restrictions were necessary. Defence lawyers maintained the seized funds were intended for charitable assistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best proof of this is that the detainees were released,\u201d Tibi said. \u201cWe said from the beginning that the mountain laboured and brought forth a mouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

The security crackdown extended beyond party activists to media personnel. Abd Abu Shahadeh, a journalist and political activist, was arrested on Tuesday night by the Israeli police and the domestic security service, the Shin Bet.<\/p>\n

Sami Abu Shehadeh, the chairman of the Balad Party, another member of the Joint List, called it an attempt by Netanyahu to \u201csteal the elections\u201d.<\/p>\n

Deep historical securitisation<\/h2>\n

Human rights and Israeli affairs expert Mustafa Ibrahim argued that Netanyahu\u2019s approach is deeply rooted in discriminatory state policy.<\/p>\n

Ibrahim pointed to the treatment of Palestinians in Israel since the formation of the state in 1948 \u2013 when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced out of their homes in the Nakba \u2013 including the period of military rule that was imposed on them until 1966.<\/p>\n

Palestinian citizens of Israel have always been viewed as a \u201cfifth column\u201d, Ibrahim said, \u201cand they are described as enemies of the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tibi emphasised that the suppression of Palestinian rights in Israel was part of a broader ongoing pattern.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitical intimidation began on October 7 itself, when celebrities from our community were summoned for investigation simply for liking a post or writing a Quranic verse whose interpretation was distorted,\u201d Tibi told Al Jazeera, referring to the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.<\/p>\n

He added that the decision in late September by the Israeli electoral committee to disqualify the Palestinian-led parties from the elections \u2013 later overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court \u2013 was part of that campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tools multiplied and the goal is one, which is indeed to intimidate us from political work as candidates and voters,\u201d Tibi said.<\/p>\n

Delegitimising state institutions<\/h2>\n

The political pressure from Netanyahu and his allies has engulfed Israeli state institutions. According to The Jerusalem Post, Shin Bet Director David Zini requested to interrogate senior Palestinian lawmakers, including Tibi and United Arab List leader Mansour Abbas, over foreign interference claims. Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara explicitly denied the request, leading to attacks from Netanyahu\u2019s Likud party.<\/p>\n

Abbas dismissed the allegations, calling the investigation reports as attempts to \u201csmear the Arab public\u201d and were unacceptable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI and all members of the United Arab List are not afraid of any investigation and are prepared to appear before any law enforcement authority,\u201d Abbas said, provided the process is conducted under the attorney general and judicial system.<\/p>\n

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has demanded Baharav-Miara\u2019s removal.<\/p>\n

\u201cSlowly but surely, they came to understand that this is a legal advisor who tried to incriminate a minister, tried to incriminate me, and ordered the Shin Bet chief to follow me and act against me. Just for that alone, she should have been sent home,\u201d Ben-Gvir wrote on social media.<\/p>\n

Abu Amer said that this was an example of Netanyahu avoiding direct confrontation and instead utilising figures like Ben-Gvir to carry out these tasks. \u201cThe attack on the Attorney-General is part of a systematic campaign, not a spontaneous one,\u201d Abu Amer noted.<\/p>\n

Ibrahim highlighted that this political incitement occurs against a backdrop of systemic racism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe targeting of the national minority with intimidation campaigns has been supported by the head of the government and the head of the state during the past few years,\u201d Ibrahim said, adding that this came in the context of the killing of more than 190 people in Palestinian communities in Israel and in occupied East Jerusalem this year in violence that continues to ravage the community, and is partly blamed on a lack of policing and government funding.<\/p>\n

The Palestinian-led parties are now focused on using their increased number of seats in parliament to address that issue, and others facing their community, while facing off against Netanyahu and his allies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past, they were annoyed by our patriotism only; today, they fear our influence. We hope it will actually backfire,\u201d Tibi said. \u201cThe direct practical step is to overthrow them politically, and this comes through several procedures, operations, and a parliamentary step. But we will not stop at overthrowing them, rather we will work to improve the reality for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Israel has\u00a0officially certified its election results \u2013 delivering a blow to right-wing claims of a stolen vote \u2013 but the record 19 seats captured by Palestinian-led parties have triggered aggressive police raids, arbitrary arrests, and targeted interrogations by state security apparatuses. The electoral gains made by the parties representing Palestinian citizens of Israel \u2013 the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t