"Delegitimizing the Arab Voice": How Does the Exclusion of Arab Parties Become an Electoral Strategy?
A position paper by "I'lam" Center monitors the escalation of political discourse against Arab society and its representatives as the Knesset elections approach, revealing how the exclusion of Arab parties has turned into an electoral strategy targeting the legitimacy of partnership with them.
A position paper issued by "I'lam" Center, the Arab Center for Media Freedom, Development, and Research, reveals an escalation in political discourse directed against Arab society and its representatives following the announcement of the Knesset election date. The paper, published in October 2026, tracks the transformation of the exclusion of Arab parties from the government scene into part of the electoral battle, imposing preconditions on their potential participation in forming a parliamentary majority. The paper indicates that the escalating discourse is not limited to attacking Arab parties or questioning their political positions, but extends to targeting the legitimacy of partnership with them, portraying reliance on the votes of Arab citizens and their representatives as a political and moral weakness for the opposition. The analysis is based on a comparison between two equal periods of nine weeks each, before and after the election date was set on July 12, 2026. The monitoring included 264 posts on the "X" platform and a sample of 72 quotes from Likud party leaders in five media outlets. The monitoring results show that the number of posts related to Arab society and its representatives more than doubled coinciding with the setting of the election date.