Arab parties in Israel accuse Netanyahu of inciting hatred to scare voters

Prominent politicians from Arab-led lists have accused Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of inciting hatred against Palestinian citizens in the country, in an attempt to boost his electoral prospects.

Yousef Jabareen, leader of the Joint List, said in a video statement shared on social media on Tuesday that Netanyahu knew that “we can put an end to his bloody reign”. Meanwhile, Mansour Abbas, leader of the United Arab List, denounced Netanyahu’s comments as a “scare tactic to mobilise right-wing voters and drive them to the polls”.

In a series of posts on X on Tuesday, Netanyahu attacked Arab voters, describing them as “Muslim Brotherhood supporters” and accusing them of “raiding the polling stations and stealing the elections”.

In a separate post, Netanyahu referred to a picture of a large queue that appeared to show Palestinian citizens in Israel at a polling station, and called on right-wing Israelis to “go out and vote for Likud”, referring to his political party and describing the situation as a “matter of life and death for us”.

Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, said on Tuesday that it had received numerous reports from Arab voters of attempts to discourage them from casting their ballots. Adalah said it had also been told that queues at polling stations in Arab-majority towns were moving very slowly and, in some instances, had stopped altogether. It also reported a lack of ballot slips printed in Arabic.

The rights group said it had reported the events to Israel’s Central Elections Committee and Regional Elections Committees.

Palestinian politician Sami Abu Shehadeh, who leads the Balad party, praised Palestinian citizens in Israel in a post on X.

“There are racists for whom these pictures are frightening, but for us, they encourage us and we’ll continue with all our might! I call on Arab citizens to continue coming out in droves, it’s in our hands!” Abu Shehadeh said.

Netanyahu has claimed that his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, would be unable to govern without the support of Arab parties. However, Eisenkot has ruled out working with any, citing a lack of shared values.