Palestinians in West Bank Excluded from Israeli Vote, Facing Existential Threats

In Jabal al-Baba, a small Bedouin community east of Jerusalem, Israeli control dictates nearly every facet of Palestinian life, from housing and water access to freedom of movement. However, as Israelis prepare to vote on October 27, the nearly three million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank will be disenfranchised, unable to choose the government that governs them under occupation. This stands in stark contrast to the 700,000 Jewish settlers residing in approximately 300 settlements and outposts across the territory, including occupied East Jerusalem.

"They treat us like something that doesn’t exist," stated Atallah al-Jahalin, Jabal al-Baba’s community representative. "You don’t have the right to vote. You don’t have the rights that you would have in a democratic state."

Jabal al-Baba is home to about 450 people and is situated in Area C, which constitutes roughly 60 percent of the occupied West Bank and remains under complete Israeli military and civil authority. Many residents, primarily from the Jahalin tribe, who were displaced from the Naqab (Negev) desert by Israeli authorities after the 1948 Nakba, sustain themselves by raising sheep and goats amidst homes constructed from corrugated metal.

"You are forbidden from building a house. You are forbidden from building a street. You are forbidden from building a school," al-Jahalin explained. "Everything is forbidden to us." He further noted that residents endure continuous pressure from Israeli soldiers and settlers, alongside recurrent demolitions. "In the past few years, we have had more than 100 demolition operations in our community. We were constantly rebuilding our homes."

Israel asserts that it demolishes Palestinian structures built without permits, which are exceedingly difficult for Palestinians to obtain. Research by the Israeli rights group Bimkom revealed that authorities rejected over 99 percent of Palestinian building permit applications in Area C between 2021 and 2024. Concurrently, while Palestinians face development restrictions, Israeli settlements, deemed illegal under international law, are expanding rapidly. Reports indicate that in April, Israel’s security cabinet approved 34 new settlements in a single decision, with some outposts being legalized retroactively, according to the anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now.

Al-Jahalin perceives the objective as clear: to displace his community and make way for settlers. "There is an Israeli plan to displace the people who are here. All of this is a means of pressure. We have to leave these areas for the benefit of the settlement projects."

E1 Exposes Limits of Government Change

In the upcoming election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party and its far-right coalition face a close contest against an opposition alliance aiming to "preserve and strengthen Israel as a Jewish and democratic state." While the opposition lacks a declared leader, former army chief Gadi Eisenkot of the centrist Yashar party is considered a potential prime ministerial candidate. Polls suggest the two blocs are nearly tied, with neither expected to secure a majority. Notably, most leaders of the Jewish-led opposition bloc have indicated they would not collaborate with Arab-led parties representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, who constitute about 20 percent of the population.

However, for many Palestinians, a change in leadership offers little hope. Jamal Juma’, coordinator of the grassroots Stop the Wall campaign, stated that decades of occupation have led Palestinians to believe that no new government will alter fundamental Israeli policies. He pointed out that the center-left Labour Party initiated West Bank settlement construction post-1967, not the right.

For Jabal al-Baba, the E1 project—a strip of land between Jerusalem and the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Adumim where the community resides—serves as a critical indicator of potential government impact. The E1 plan aims to connect Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem, effectively bisecting the West Bank and threatening the forced displacement of approximately 18 Bedouin communities, including Jabal al-Baba. In August 2025, Israel granted final approval for 3,401 settler homes in E1, a move the far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich claimed would "bury" the prospect of a Palestinian state. The following month, Netanyahu declared, "There will be no Palestinian state. This place belongs to us."

This year, the government put the land up for sale via two tenders, seemingly to expedite the process before the election. Israel’s attorney general has since sought to postpone parts of this process until after the vote, a decision that Smotrich is contesting in court. In the election lead-up, Eisenkot dismissed the idea of a Palestinian state as "delusional" while endorsing settlement "strengthening." When questioned about the E1 tenders in August, he responded, "Not now," deeming the project's advancement a mistake with international repercussions and citing damage to Israel's global standing due to far-right ministers and settler violence. This positions him at odds with the current government regarding the timing of E1, but not on the principle of West Bank settlement.

"There may be a democracy, but only for Jewish people," commented Kareem Jubran, field research director at Israeli rights group B’Tselem, which characterizes Israel’s rule over Palestinians as apartheid. "Even if the governments change, the system remains. If the left exists, it is a Zionist left. It is not very influential in Israeli political life."

In Jabal al-Baba, where settlement expansion jeopardizes the community's future, al-Jahalin shares a similar sentiment. "It may be Eisenkot, it may be Netanyahu. Israeli policy is already on the table. It doesn’t matter who carries it out."

A System No Election Will Dismantle

Regardless of who forms Israel’s next government, decisive power over West Bank Palestinians will persist. The West Bank, divided into Areas A, B, and C under the 1990s Oslo Accords, sees Israel’s most direct control in Area C, though its restrictions extend throughout the territory. "The Israelis are controlling everything in the West Bank, every single thing," Juma’ stated, highlighting Israeli control over movement between Palestinian cities and villages, as well as access to essential resources like water and electricity, and the territory’s borders. "Every city and every village, they have constructed a gate at the entrance."

Juma’ also cautioned that ongoing fragmentation could transform the West Bank into isolated enclaves, severing connections between Palestinian communities. "It will be like open prisons, like Gaza. But here we have different Gazas." Jubran of B’Tselem believes that halting this trajectory requires international pressure, not the outcome of Israel’s election. "If the international community were determined to take practical steps to stop the E1 project, it could. As long as it is not, E1 will go ahead."

Back in Jabal al-Baba, the threat of renewed forced displacement looms large. Al-Jahalin recounted his family’s prior expulsion from the Naqab but affirmed his refusal to leave again. "I am not ready to live the life of my father. I, as a Palestinian, will stay, whether I die or live on this Earth."