Early Israeli election results point to deadlock

Deutsche Welle reports that early results from Israel's election show no clear winner, with Netanyahu's bloc short of a majority and Gadi Eisenkot's opposition dependent on other parties. In its own voice it calls the parties that represent Palestinian citizens of Israel only "Arab parties" and never names those citizens as Palestinian anywhere in the piece.

1. Erases a people's national identity

   Serious

   “Arab parties”

   Why this matters

   In its own voice Deutsche Welle calls the parties Eisenkot would need "Arab parties". This is its only description of them and of the citizens they represent. The same sentence is repeated word for word in S13.

   The impression it gives

   A reader takes these parties and their voters as an ethnic minority inside Israel, with no link to the Palestinian people. A reader does not learn that the decisive coalition partners represent Palestinian citizens of Israel.

   The context

   Survey evidence shows most Arab citizens of Israel describe themselves as Palestinian. In Sammy Smooha's 2019 survey, 61.9% chose a self-description containing Palestinian. That figure is historical evidence, not proof of any individual's identity, and Arab and Palestinian identities can coexist. The article never uses the word Palestinian anywhere, so this label is the reader's only description of who these voters and parties are.

   How we know

   • Our analysis“61.9% chose a description of themselves that included Palestinian”Palestinian citizens of Israel voted in record numbers
   • 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”.

   Show it in the article

   Written straight

   The opposition bloc of challenger Gadi Eisenkot would have to rely on an alliance with Palestinian-led parties, which represent Palestinian citizens of Israel, to form a government.