Arab party leader seeks 61-seat majority with Israeli opposition to oust Netanyahu

Mansour Abbas, the leader of the United Arab List (Ra’am), said early Wednesday that he hoped his party and Israel’s opposition bloc could together secure the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

“I hope we can change this government and that the numbers add up to 61 seats, the opposition bloc together with Ra’am,” Abbas told Israel’s Channel 12.

“With the numbers we have now, there is no government,” he said.

Abbas said the high turnout among Arab voters reflected despair and frustration that had turned into hope.

Asked about opposition party leaders Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman’s refusal to cooperate with his party, he said the matter would be addressed after the election.

Supporters of the Joint List celebrated at its headquarters in Nazareth, chanting slogans mocking National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen said the projections showed that it had achieved its goal of building a strong list capable of bringing change.

Channel 12 reported turnout among Arab voters at 80%. Its exit poll projected a combined 18 seats for Arab parties in the 120-seat Knesset alongside 52 for the bloc led by Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot and 50 for Netanyahu’s bloc.

Neither bloc was projected to secure a parliamentary majority.

Overall turnout reached 77.7%, the highest since 1999 and up 7.1 percentage points from the 2022 election, the Central Elections Committee said.

Vote counting began after polls closed at 10 pm local time (2000GMT) Tuesday. Exit polls are projections, not official results.