Arab parties back Eisenkot: What’s the latest in Israel’s coalition talks?
News Source
•Mon, 02 Nov 2026 15:00:08 +0000
📰 What Happened
Israel's Arab parties won a record 19 seats in last week's election. They are now set to back opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot's bloc. That makes it much harder for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to lead another government.
Netanyahu's bloc of conservative and far-right parties won 53 seats. Eisenkot's opposition bloc won 48. Neither reached the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.
Arab voters turned out in huge numbers, about 80 percent. Ra'am won eight seats and the Joint List won 11.
🔍 The Backstory
Arab citizens make up about a fifth of Israel's population but have long been sidelined in politics. Only one Arab party, Ra'am, has ever joined a governing coalition, in 2021, and that government fell in under two years.
Eisenkot and other opposition leaders had earlier promised not to build a coalition with Arab parties, to win over Jewish voters. Taking their support now brings a new problem: it gives rivals on the right a line of attack. Demonstrators have already protested outside Eisenkot's home.
🎯 Why It Matters
Arab voters doubled their turnout and may now decide who runs Israel. That is a big shift in a country where they were long kept out of power.
Israel's Arab parties won a record 19 seats in last week's election. They are now set to back opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot's bloc. That makes it much harder for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to lead another government.
Netanyahu's bloc of conservative and far-right parties won 53 seats. Eisenkot's opposition bloc won 48. Neither reached the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.
Arab voters turned out in huge numbers, about 80 percent. Ra'am won eight seats and the Joint List won 11.
Arab citizens make up about a fifth of Israel's population but have long been sidelined in politics. Only one Arab party, Ra'am, has ever joined a governing coalition, in 2021, and that government fell in under two years.
Eisenkot and other opposition leaders had earlier promised not to build a coalition with Arab parties, to win over Jewish voters. Taking their support now brings a new problem: it gives rivals on the right a line of attack. Demonstrators have already protested outside Eisenkot's home.
Arab voters doubled their turnout and may now decide who runs Israel. That is a big shift in a country where they were long kept out of power.