The Arab vote in the Israeli elections

Two weeks after Israel held its first general elections since October 2023, opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot has been tasked with forming a government. The election saw a historic voter turnout for Palestinian citizens of Israel, who headed to the ballot for one reason: to oust Benjamin Netanyahu. On this One on One, Balad party leader Sami Abou Shehadeh tells Middle East Eye that although the Arab vote has prevented Netanyahu from forming another far-right government, racism against Palestinians is still prevalent across the Israeli political board. "The current situation for the Palestinian minority in Israel, we do not have good options. We are choosing between bad and worse," he tells MEE, warning that Netanyahu is "in a very dangerous phase" as he doubles down his efforts to delegitimise the election results and push for a repeat election.