Arab Parties Set New Vote Record in Israeli Elections

Arab parties in Israel, specifically the Joint List and Ra'am, have achieved a new record in the latest Knesset elections, securing approximately 15% of the valid votes cast. Preliminary data from the Central Elections Committee indicates they garnered 729,855 votes in total. This represents a significant increase of about 218,000 votes compared to the 2022 elections, even when accounting for Balad's votes from that year. The current vote count surpasses the previous record of 581,507 votes set in the 2020 elections, with the final tally still ongoing.

The Joint List received 446,240 votes (9.19%) and Ra'am secured 283,615 votes (5.84%) in the current election. Together, these votes constitute roughly 15% of the 4,854,102 valid votes counted from 11,168 polling stations as of Wednesday afternoon.

Historical data shows fluctuations in Arab party voting patterns. In 2013, Ra'am-Ta'al, Hadash, and Balad collectively received 348,919 votes. They ran as the Joint List in 2015, increasing their total to 446,583. Separate lists in April 2019 saw a dip to 337,108 votes, but a reunification in September 2019 boosted the count to 470,211.

In 2020, the unified list achieved a record 581,507 votes (12.67%), translating to 15 seats. After Ra'am split to run independently in 2021, the combined vote for the two lists fell to 379,647. The 2022 elections saw a partial recovery, with Ra'am winning 194,047 votes and Hadash-Ta'al receiving 178,735, while Balad, with 138,617 votes, failed to pass the electoral threshold. The total for the three parties in 2022 was 511,399 votes.