Political untouchables emerge as kingmakers

Tel Aviv: Voters in Israel have left the country facing a political deadlock. Neither of the two main political blocs, represented by incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his challenger Gadi Eisenkot, appears to have the numbers needed to form a government.

The key to breaking the impasse may lie in the hands of those long treated as “political untouchables”: the Arab parties representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, which Jewish political parties have often derided as enemies of the Jewish state.

The elections saw the highest voter turnout since 1999, at 77.7%. The surge was particularly notable among the country’s Arab population, which has traditionally voted at lower rates than Jewish Israelis. Arab parties said turnout in their communities exceeded 75%. The two main Arab political groupings – the Joint List and Ra’am – are projected to win a combined 17-19 seats, potentially marking their strongest showing yet. Most Arab Israelis are descendants of Palestinians who remained within the territory that became Israel during the 1948 war surrounding the state’s creation, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced or fled their homes.

Israel’s current government has often portrayed Arab political participation as a threat to the country’s Jewish id