Netanyahu Accused of Inciting Hatred Against Arab Citizens to Sway Election Votes

Prominent politicians from Arab-led lists have accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of inciting hatred against Palestinian citizens within Israel, alleging it is a tactic to enhance his electoral prospects. Yousef Jabareen, the leader of the Joint List, stated in a social media video on Tuesday that Netanyahu is aware that "we can put an end to his bloody reign." Concurrently, Mansour Abbas, the leader of the United Arab List, condemned Netanyahu's remarks as a "scare tactic to mobilise right-wing voters and drive them to the polls." Netanyahu, in a series of posts on X on Tuesday, targeted Arab voters, labeling them "Muslim Brotherhood supporters" and accusing them of "raiding the polling stations and stealing the elections." In a separate post, he shared an image of a long queue, reportedly of Palestinian citizens in Israel at a polling station, urging right-wing Israelis to "go out and vote for Likud," his political party, and characterizing the situation as a "matter of life and death for us." The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, Adalah, reported on Tuesday that it had received numerous accounts from Arab voters detailing efforts to discourage them from voting. Adalah also noted reports of extremely slow, and in some cases halted, queues at polling stations in towns with Arab majorities, as well as a shortage of ballot slips printed in Arabic. The organization confirmed it had lodged complaints with Israel’s Central Elections Committee and Regional Elections Committees. Palestinian politician Sami Abu Shehadeh, who heads the Balad party, commended Palestinian citizens in Israel via an X post, stating, "There are racists for whom these pictures are frightening, but for us, they encourage us and we’ll continue with all our might! I call on Arab citizens to continue coming out in droves, it’s in our hands!" Netanyahu has previously asserted that his primary opponent, Gadi Eisenkot, would require the backing of Arab parties to govern, a claim Eisenkot has refuted, citing a lack of shared values.