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For decades, Palestinian citizens of Israel have largely shunned elections, believing there's little to be gained from participating in the political system of a country they feel dismisses their communities. But this week, Palestinians in Israel came to the ballot boxes in record numbers. Their large turnout has turned Arab-led parties into a powerful force in Israeli politics. NPR's Ruth Sherlock traveled to one Palestinian-majority town in Israel to understand what's changed.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Arabic).
RUTH SHERLOCK, BYLINE: Gathered in a park in the town of Kufr Qasim, hundreds of Palestinian citizens of Israel commemorate the killing of residents gunned down in 1956 by Israeli police in the violent early years of the state.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Arabic).
SHERLOCK: "And today, we stand here 70 years later," the speaker tells the crowd from the podium. "And the story still isn't over."
Everybody is dressed in black. And many of the young people here are wearing the keffiyeh, the black-and-white scarf of Palestinian resistance. This is all happening just two days after Palestinian Israelis voted in record numbers in the elections here.
INTISAR SARSUR: (Speaking Arabic).
SHERLOCK: "Not one person stayed home," 65-year-old Intisar Sarsur (ph) tells us. NPR producer Nuha Musleh interprets.
SARSUR: (Through interpreter) There's a big difference between the behavior of people before and now.
SHERLOCK: Wow.
SARSUR: (Through interpreter) Everybody that I know participated in the elections.
SHERLOCK: Arab-led parties received a more-than-60% increase in votes compared to the previous elections, according to the Central Election Committee.
SARSUR: (Through interpreter) Israeli government is oppressing Arabs. So we are seeking for our basic rights as human beings.
SHERLOCK: Palestinian Arabs make up about 20% of the population in Israel, and many often don't exercise their right to vote. But Sarsur says this year, they had to do something after the Hamas attack in 2023 stirred up anti-Arab sentiment across the country. Jamal Zahalka leads a committee that works to coordinate the different Arab-led parties.
JAMAL ZAHALKA: We blocked the government of Netanyahu from continuing and establishing a new government. It's a historical achievement. I think our community discovered its strength.
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SHERLOCK: In this deadlocked election, neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc nor his main challenger Gadi Eisenkot's center-right parties won enough seats to form a government. Eisenkot could secure the majority if he partners with Arab parties, but it could also cause other Jewish right-wing members of his coalition to split off in fury.
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UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing in non-English language).
SHERLOCK: If nobody can form a government, then there could be new elections. Would Palestinian Israelis turn out again in such large numbers? Yes, says political analyst Abed Abou Shhadeh.
ABED ABOU SHHADEH: What's happening in Israel and Palestine is not something temporary. No. This is tectonic. And people round here understand this is tectonic. These are fundamental changes in the shape of politics here.
SHERLOCK: Seeing the violence against Palestinians in the occupied territories endorsed by Netanyahu's extreme-right government has fundamentally shaken Palestinian Arabs in Israel, he says.
SHHADEH: After seeing the genocide in Gaza, what people are saying - if they starved children in Gaza and then bombed them, why do you think we are different? They understand that they're facing a sovereignty that has no restraints. This is terrifying. So I think what pushed them is this fear that it's a new game.
SHERLOCK: As the election results become clear, Netanyahu, who denies the charges of genocide, took to social media to rail against the Arab parties' victories. He claimed voter fraud but provided no public evidence.
MANSOUR SHAABAN: (Speaking Arabic).
SHERLOCK: At the commemoration in Kufr Qasim, resident Mansour Shaaban (ph) shrugs off Netanyahu's attack as playing politics.
SHAABAN: (Speaking Arabic).
SHERLOCK: Shaaban is 33, and this is the first time he's voted in Israeli elections. He knows things won't change overnight. But he thinks whatever happens, the turnout of this election matters.
SHAABAN: (Speaking Arabic).
SHERLOCK: "Even if we don't succeed in creating change this time," he says, "next time, Israeli politicians won't be able to take Palestinian citizens in Israel for granted."
Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, Kufr Qasim. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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