Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party said on Sunday that it would seek to bar two Arab-majority parties from contesting the October 27 Knesset election.
Likud said it planned to file requests to disqualify the Joint List and the United Arab List, known as Ra’am.
The party accused both of supporting “terrorism”, claiming they disparage Israeli soldiers and refuse to designate Hamas and Hezbollah as “terrorist organisations”. The statement provided no evidence to support the accusations.
The move comes as Likud intensifies its attacks on former army chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, whose Yashar party has emerged as Netanyahu’s main electoral rival.
Likud portrayed the two Arab parties as Eisenkot’s “natural partners” and claimed he would rely on them, along with opposition leaders Yair Golan and Avigdor Lieberman, to form a government.
The Joint List brings together Arab political parties in Israel, while Ra’am, led by Mansour Abbas, has contested elections separately since breaking away from the alliance.
Ra’am became the first Arab party to join an Israeli governing coalition in 2021.
Recent polls have placed Eisenkot’s Yashar ahead of Likud, while neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the opposition has secured a clear path to the 61 seats needed to form a government.
The stalemate could give Arab parties a significant role in post-election coalition negotiations.
