Report: Political Discourse Against Arab Citizens Widened Ahead of Knesset Elections
Translated & summarized from Alarab by baba
A report by Mada al-Arab indicates a significant increase in anti-Arab political discourse following the announcement of Knesset elections, aiming to exclude Arab parties from government formation. The study found a more than twofold rise in related social media posts and a substantial increase in statements from Likud leaders. The campaign reportedly portrays reliance on Arab parties as a threat and links Arab lawmakers to terrorism, impacting opposition calculations. The paper concludes this strategy deepens existing exclusionary tendencies for political gain.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Political discourse against Arab citizens intensified before the Knesset elections, aiming for their exclusion from government formation.
- Social media posts concerning Arab citizens and representatives more than doubled during the election period.
- Likud leaders' statements targeting Arab parties and lawmakers increased significantly, with some linked to terrorism.
- The campaign framed opposition reliance on Arab parties as a threat, influencing their government formation capabilities.
- The discourse extended to issues of land, housing, and work, with increased focus on "Judaizing the Negev and Galilee."
A position paper released by "Mada al-Arab," the Arab Center for Media Freedom, Development, and Research, reveals an escalation in political discourse targeting the Arab community following the announcement of Knesset elections. The paper concludes that this intensification aims to exclude Arab citizens and their representatives from government formation calculations by portraying partnership with Arab parties as an electoral liability and pressuring the opposition to preemptively reject them.
The study, published in October 2026, compared two nine-week periods: one before the July 12, 2026, election announcement and one after. It analyzed 264 posts on the "X" platform related to the Arab community and its representatives, alongside 72 quotes from Likud leaders featured in five media outlets. The findings indicate a more than twofold increase in posts concerning Arab citizens and their representatives, with their share of total monitored posts rising from 13.6% to 20.8%. The Likud media sample showed a nearly 4.1-fold weekly increase in statements, with the number of spokespeople tripling.
Mada al-Arab attributes this shift to a broader production and dissemination of discourse, adopted by more leaders. While the discourse was already sharp, the election period added intensity and message convergence, suggesting a coordinated campaign. The paper's analysis indicates the campaign centers on framing opposition reliance on Arab parties as a threat. In the Likud media sample, references rejecting the participation of the United List and other Arab parties in government increased elevenfold, while those linking Arab lawmakers to terrorism rose sixteenfold. Mentions portraying the "change bloc" as lenient towards and dependent on Arabs also increased 5.5 times.
The paper identifies opposition stances as a key area of impact, noting that when opposition leaders pledge to exclude Arab parties while polls show they need Arab party seats for a majority, exclusion becomes a constraint on their ability to form a government. The paper suggests that the opposition's adoption of exclusion grants the right-wing discourse legitimacy beyond its base. However, it acknowledges that some exclusionary stances predated the studied period.
The discourse also extended to land, housing, and work, with posts related to "Judaizing the Negev and Galilee" increasing over fourfold. The paper documents the presentation of building demolitions and the redirection of development budgets to security agencies as political achievements, alongside statements targeting Arab doctors and broadening suspicion based on national affiliation. It discusses the reframing of crime from a public safety issue to a national security matter and the transition of exclusion from statements to institutional actions through election disqualification requests. The paper posits that the campaign's impact on Arab participation is uncertain, potentially fostering a sense of powerlessness or provoking protest participation. It does not establish a causal link between the campaign and changes in voting intentions or party positions, citing its reliance on a selected sample rather than a comprehensive survey. The paper concludes that the campaign deepens existing exclusionary tendencies and leverages them in the struggle for power by attempting to separate Arab parliamentary representation from the legitimacy of participating in the majority that forms the government.
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