INTERVIEW- Arab voters to determine Israel’s next prime minister, says Balad leader

'There is complete agreement among all the Arab parties that we want to prevent these criminals from returning to power,' says Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh 'The issue is not changing the person in charge. We want to change Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies,' he says Arab voters could determine Israel’s next prime minister, said Sami Abu Shehadeh, head of the left-wing National Democratic Assembly (Balad) party, stressing that the goal of Arab parties is to prevent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from forming a government. “The Arab vote in this election, according to all opinion polls over the past two years, will determine who will be prime minister in Israel,” Abu Shehadeh told Anadolu. “We are therefore very concerned in this racist society about efforts to disqualify the Arab vote and remove us from the political arena altogether. The closer we get to Election Day, the greater our concern becomes,” he said. Palestinians in the territories occupied in 1948 make up more than 20% of Israel’s population of 10 million. Opinion polls indicate that Arab lawmakers will win 12 to 14 of the Knesset’s 120 seats. “There are around 1.2 million Palestinian citizens of Israel eligible to vote. A Knesset seat requires roughly 40,000 votes. We expect turnout to be between 62% and 73%,” Abu Shehadeh said. “We therefore expect Palestinian Arabs to win around 14 to 16 seats in the Knesset. If we reach these numbers, Netanyahu and his criminal gang will not be able to form a coalition in the next phase,” he added. Preventing Netanyahu’s return Abu Shehadeh said bringing down Netanyahu’s government and preventing him from forming a new one is the strategic objective of Arab parties in the upcoming election. “There is complete agreement among all the Arab parties that we want to prevent these criminals from returning to power,” he said. “These criminals are the most difficult governing coalition we have dealt with since the Nakba (1948)," he said. Opinion polls indicate that neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the Jewish opposition bloc will be able to secure enough seats to form a government. A government requires the support of at least 61 members of the 120-seat Knesset. According to the polls, the Jewish opposition would need the support of Arab parties to form a government. However, most leaders of Jewish opposition parties reject relying on Arab parties for support in forming a government. Asked if Arab lawmakers would be open to forming a government with these Jewish opposition parties, he said: “I wish there was a real opposition (in Israel)." "I wish someone was pushing a different political agenda from racist Netanyahu. A candidate who was ready to end the occupation," he said, adding so far a genuine candidate has not come forward. “The issue is not changing the person in charge. We want to change Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies.” Raising turnout Abu Shehadeh said the Joint List, an alliance of the Balad, the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality and the Arab Movement for Renewal, will work to increase Arab turnout. “We are in a very difficult election campaign and are working at every level to raise turnout. We expect it to be very high compared with the past 30 years,” he said. According to estimates, a sizeable Arab turnout could threaten the chances of small right-wing parties of winning seats, which would reduce Netanyahu’s chances of forming a government. Disqualification attempts Abu Shehadeh also discussed recent attempts to prevent Arab parties from participating in the election. “There was a serious attempt by Netanyahu and his gang to remove all the Arab parties from the political arena, and we stopped that in the Supreme Court,” he said. “Nevertheless, I was personally disqualified as head of Balad, but we are continuing. We will not stop. We will continue our just struggle for freedom, justice and equality for the Palestinian and Israeli people,” he added. “They are trying to disqualify us and silence our votes, and we will work to silence the voices of racism and racists,” he said. On Sept. 23, the Israeli Central Elections Committee decided to disqualify the Joint List, led by Yousef Jabareen , as well as the United Arab List led by Knesset member Mansour Abbas. The decision also included Abu Shehadeh and Knesset member Ofer Cassif of the Joint List, before Israel’s Supreme Court overturned the committee’s decision. However, the court signaled that it could uphold Abu Shehadeh’s disqualification, prompting him, following consultations, to withdraw his candidacy before a judicial ruling was issued against him. So-called only democracy in Middle East Observers say preventing Arabs from participating in the election would have dealt a blow to Israel’s claims of being “the only democracy in the Middle East.” Despite withdrawing his candidacy, Abu Shehadeh continues to campaign for the Joint List with the aim of preventing Netanyahu from forming a government. “We are continuing, as we told our people directly after the Supreme Court decided to disqualify us and remove us from this contest,” he said. “We will not derive our legitimacy from the criminal Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, from the Israeli court or from any other Zionist party. As leaders of our people, our legitimacy comes solely from the sons and daughters of our people,” he added. “I will do everything I can to ensure the Joint List succeeds,” Abu Shehadeh said. Netanyahu has headed the current government since late December 2022, in a government described as the most right-wing in Israel’s history. The election on Oct. 27 is considered critical to Netanyahu’s political future as he faces corruption charges, including bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Alongside the domestic corruption proceedings, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu since 2024 on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in Gaza.