Arab parties in Israel accuse Netanyahu of inciting hatred to scare voters

During Israel’s general election on October 27, 2026, Arab party leaders accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of inciting hatred against Palestinian citizens of Israel to improve his electoral prospects. Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen said voters could end Netanyahu’s “bloody reign”, while United Arab List leader Mansour Abbas called Netanyahu’s remarks a scare tactic to mobilise right-wing voters. On X, Netanyahu accused Arab voters of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and “stealing the elections”, then urged right-wing Israelis to vote for Likud. Adalah reported efforts to discourage Arab voters, slow or halted queues at polling stations in Arab-majority towns, and a shortage of ballot slips printed in Arabic; it referred the reports to election committees.