Arab parties win 19 Knesset seats as Israel’s power structure keeps them shut out of coalition talks
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Arab parties secured 19 seats in Israel's latest election, yet both major Jewish blocs still refuse to include them in a governing coalition, exposing deep structural discrimination within a system that claims democratic legitimacy.
Israel's recent parliamentary election delivered 19 seats in the 120-member Knesset to Arab parties. Even with enough numbers in principle to help assemble a majority alongside either the right-leaning or centre-left blocs, leaders on both sides have made clear that they do not intend to bring Arab parties into a governing coalition.
Political analysts say this reflects a system that combines formal democracy with entrenched ethnic hierarchy, leaving Israel's Arab minority with only limited and heavily constrained power-sharing. Historian Alan Dowty uses consociational theory to show that while Jewish factions have historically been able to trade power among themselves, Arab parties have been systematically excluded from elite bargaining. Political scientist Ian Lustick notes that although Arabs make up about 20 percent of the population, there is no consistent ethnic negotiation or proportional allocation of resources within the Israeli political elite.
Sociologist Sammy Smooha describes Israel as an “ethnic democracy,” in which a dominant Jewish identity shapes the state while democratic rights exist on paper for all citizens, but the public sphere and national policy remain controlled primarily by the Jewish majority. The 2018 Basic Law, which enshrines Jewish self-determination, has been heavily criticised by Arab politicians and civil-rights groups for failing to include explicit guarantees of civic equality. In July 2021, Israel's Supreme Court upheld the law, saying it does not override individual human-rights protections found in other Basic Laws.
The refusal to work with Arab parties is also tied to the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Many Jewish leaders view Arab citizens through the lens of loyalty to the Palestinian territories, while Arab parties call for full civic rights and a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders. History shows that cooperation has been possible but fragile; in 2021, the government led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid depended on the United Arab List (Ra’am) for a narrow majority, but that coalition collapsed the following year amid ideological disputes.
The election result highlights a growing determination among Arab citizens to take part more fully in Israel's political life, even as structural exclusion and security politics continue to keep them outside formal power-sharing arrangements.