With over 85% of votes counted, pro-Netanyahu bloc gets 53 seats, Eisenkot-led bloc at 48 and Arab parties have 19; further updates unlikely today
The Central Elections Committee announces 53 seats for the bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and 48 seats for the bloc led by Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot.
The Arab parties have 19 seats, a historic high.
At least 61 seats are required for a majority.
Some 93 percent of ordinary ballots have been counted, which is 85.6% of the total. While the results are not final, it is not expected that the figures will be updated in the immediate future.
In a statement the CEC says the remaining 7% of the ordinary ballots will require additional oversight, while some 600,000 so-called double envelope votes have yet to be counted. These are expected to be added to the tally in the next couple of days.
Parties currently below the 3.25% threshold include the Reservists (2.6%), People of Israel (1.6%), and the Charedi Public (0.2%).
The Times of Israel reports partial election results, but 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 that these parties reached a historic 19 seats without learning who the people behind them are.
Erases a people's national identity
Serious
“Arab parties have 19”
Why this matters
In the outlet's own voice, "Arab parties" names the third group of results by an ethnic label alone, alongside two blocs named for their leaders.
The impression it gives
A reader takes these parties as an Arab ethnic sector inside Israeli politics, with no link to the Palestinian people.
The context
These parties draw their vote from Palestinian citizens of Israel. In the survey we cite, most of them chose a self-description that includes Palestinian. The article 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”.