Arab Media Scrutinize Netanyahu’s Election Prospects and Voter Influence

Arab media outlets are closely monitoring Israel’s upcoming election, focusing on the political trajectory of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the potential shift in policy regarding Palestinian statehood. Regional coverage places specific weight on the electoral performance of Arab-led parties, particularly the Joint List alliance and Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am party, as neither major political bloc currently holds a guaranteed majority in the Knesset.

Shadi Shweiri, a politician with the Hadash party, described the election as a unique opportunity for Arab citizens of Israel to advance national demands. In remarks reported by Egypt’s Alghad TV on Sunday, Shweiri stated that Arab parties should support a candidate willing to halt military operations in the region and improve economic conditions for Arab communities. He accused the current government of racism and alleged crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.

Shweiri argued that the right to vote was not an act of goodwill by the Zionist movement but a condition for Israel’s acceptance into the United Nations in 1948. “Our situation is that we are being asked to choose between the bad and the worse, rather than between the good and the better,” Shweiri said. He noted that while the current administration can act outside bounds of legitimacy, it cannot revoke the voting right itself.

Iranian officials have downplayed the significance of the Israeli vote. Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, told reporters on Monday that the outcome “makes no difference to us.” Baghaei criticized the election as a competition between gangs to commit more evil. “I do not agree with elections in the occupied territories at all,” Baghaei said. “Their most important slogan is that ‘I can commit more crimes than you.’”

Despite the official stance, Iranian state-affiliated media, including the Tasnim News Agency, have tracked multiple polls assessing Likud’s chances of victory. In London, the Qatar-owned outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on fears of a political stalemate that could leave Netanyahu leading a caretaker government. Beirut Hammoud, a Palestinian journalist based in Qatar, wrote that the election follows three years of conflict. She argued that opposition politicians differ from Netanyahu only in their methods of managing the conflict, describing his administration as a government of ruin.

Lebanon-based pro-Hezbollah outlet Al-Khanadeq published an analysis alleging that Netanyahu manipulated the political environment by portraying the Arab vote as a liability. The article pointed to AI-generated campaign material depicting Gadi Eisenkot alongside Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas. The author argued that this imagery targets the soft right, which might distance itself from Likud. The analysis cited efforts by the Central Elections Committee to disqualify Arab-majority parties and noted the deployment of 2,000 activists to deter Arab voters.

The Palestinian news site Al Quds highlighted the timing of the Israeli election relative to the United States midterms. Dr. Ahmed Youseff, a former senior adviser to Ismail Haniyeh, wrote that an Eisenkot victory could reopen international diplomacy and accountability for security failures. Youseff stated that the true value of the elections will be measured by concrete steps that curb war and extremism. He added that a realistic assessment requires distinguishing hopes from certain outcomes.