With over 57% of ballots counted, pro-Netanyahu bloc at 55 seats; opposition at 49, Arab parties at 16
With 57.3% of ballot boxes counted as of 7:58 a.m., partial results published by the Central Elections Committee give the pro-Netanyahu bloc 55 seats and the anti-Netanyahu bloc 49.
The Arab parties are at 16 seats.
Parties currently below the 3.25% threshold: Reservists (2.6%), People of Israel (1.7%), Charedi Public (0.2%).
The results are partial and will change as counting continues. Votes cast in double envelopes, including those of soldiers, are counted later.
The Times of Israel reports partial election results accurately and states clearly that they will change. In its own voice it twice calls the parties of Palestinian citizens of Israel only "Arab parties" and never uses the word Palestinian. A reader learns the seat count but not the national identity of the citizens these parties represent.
Erases a people's national identity
Serious
“Arab parties at 16”
Why this matters
In the opening summary line, which works as the entry's standfirst, the outlet uses "Arab parties" in its own voice. It sets them as a third group beside the two Netanyahu blocs.
The impression it gives
A reader takes these parties to be defined only by an ethnic label. They are presented as a voting bloc set apart from the national contest, with no link to the Palestinian people.
The context
Most of the citizens these parties represent describe themselves as Palestinian. In Smooha's 2019 survey, 61.9% of adult Arab citizens of Israel chose a self-description containing Palestinian. The entry never uses the word Palestinian anywhere.
On the recordIn Sammy Smooha's April-June 2019 survey of 718 adult Arab citizens of Israel, including Druze and Bedouin, 61.9% chose a self-description containing Palestinian. This is historical survey evidence, not a 2026 percentage or proof of any individual's identity. Arab and Palestinian identities can coexist.newscord.org (opens in a new tab)
Checked against the whole articleIt never uses the words “Palestinian”.
The body repeats the label as a standalone sentence, "The Arab parties are at 16 seats". This is the only description the outlet gives of these parties and the citizens who voted for them.
The impression it gives
Repeated with no other description, the label settles in the reader's mind as the full account of who these 16 seats represent.
The context
The label is not a quotation, an official party name or a poll population label. It is the outlet's own generic description. The supplied evidence shows Palestinian identity is how most of these citizens describe themselves, alongside Arab identity, and the entry gives the reader neither alongside the other.
On the recordIn Sammy Smooha's April-June 2019 survey of 718 adult Arab citizens of Israel, including Druze and Bedouin, 61.9% chose a self-description containing Palestinian. This is historical survey evidence, not a 2026 percentage or proof of any individual's identity. Arab and Palestinian identities can coexist.newscord.org (opens in a new tab)