Arab-led Joint List leaders are urging higher turnout in Israel’s Oct. 27 election, Anadolu reported, as Madad’s Oct. 14 poll showed both major blocs short of a majority.
At an Oct. 20 news conference in Haifa, Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen said the alliance aimed to win at least 10 Knesset seats. He said stronger participation by Arab voters would make it harder for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form another government. The alliance comprises Hadash, Ta’al and Balad. Ahmad Tibi, its parliamentary bloc chairman, described removing Netanyahu as the immediate priority, even if a successor government did not advance all the alliance’s aims. Jabareen also called for action on crime, home demolitions and economic pressures in Arab communities, Anadolu reported.
Madad’s Oct. 14 poll projected 51 seats for Netanyahu’s bloc and 50 for the main opposition bloc, with nine for the Joint List and six for Ra’am. Neither bloc reached the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-member Knesset. The projections are estimates of voting intentions, not election results; EconoTimes previously reported Madad’s seat distribution. Anadolu’s Oct. 21 account cited later polls that put Ra’am at five seats, so Madad’s six-seat figure reflects that earlier survey. Under Israel’s proportional system, a party must win at least 3.25% of valid votes to enter the Knesset.
The seat gap could give smaller parties a role in government talks, but the poll does not show whether they would govern together. The Associated Press reported that Netanyahu and his main challenger, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, have ruled out including Arab-led parties in their coalitions. The AP has also reported that outside support for a minority government remains a possible arrangement. Ra’am joined a governing coalition in 2021, according to parliamentary records cited in earlier EconoTimes coverage of Israel’s election arithmetic.
Israelis vote for the 120-seat Knesset on Oct. 27. After the election, parties will try to form a government.
