Paradoxically, it is the Joint List and the Islamist party Ra’am that hold the key to the opposition’s chances of dethroning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The polls could not be clearer: Without these Arab parties, the anti-Netanyahu bloc will not reach the 61 mandates required for a Knesset majority. With their support, it could topple Netanyahu — whose own bloc of loyalists looks set to fall significantly short of a majority — virtually overnight.
Archiv: Arab-Israelis (around 21 % of the population)
Over 320 Jewish and Arab Academics Call on Public to Vote for the Joint List
Among the signatories are Prof. Amos Goldberg, Prof. Orna Ophir, Prof. Khawla Abu-Baker, Prof. Oded Goldreich, Prof. Nurit Peled-Elhanan, Prof. Oren Yiftachel, Prof. Yehouda Shenhav-Shaer, Prof. Gadi Algazi, Prof. Lior Sternfeld, Prof. Omri Boehm, Prof. Nitza Berkovitch, Prof. Marwan Dwairy, Prof. Raef Zreik, Prof. Yishai Rosen-Zvi, Prof. Gerardo Leibner, Prof. Avner Ben-Amos, Prof. Avishai Ehrlich, Prof. Itzhak Nevo, Prof. Dana Ron, Dr. Anat Matar, Dr. Efraim Davidi and Dr. Ornat Turin.
The statement reads: “We will not give up on a shared future: For equality, peace, and democracy, we will vote for the Joint List. We, academics, express our support for the Joint List and the principles it represents: full equality between Jews and Palestinians; recognition of Palestinians’ civil and national rights; an end to the occupation and the pursuit of a just peace; the struggle against racism and discrimination; and free and equal political representation for all citizens.
“We are living through a period in which racism and incitement are deepening, while the political space for Jewish-Arab partnership is shrinking. The war of annihilation in Gaza, the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, the abuse of prisoners, and the rampant crime ravaging Palestinian society all reflect a destructive policy.
“We seek to stand firmly against this policy and emphasize: There is no democracy without equality, no peace without justice, and no shared future without Jewish-Arab political partnership. We believe that the lives and futures of Jews and Palestinians are intertwined, and that only a joint struggle for freedom, equality, and justice can secure a democratic future for us all. We support the Joint List, its principles, and the struggle it represents for a better life for everyone.”
Two small Arab parties may decide Israel’s election
There are about 2.1 million Arab-Israelis, making up roughly 21% of the country’s population. Their interests tend to be represented by Ra’am and the Joint List, both of which have played a more prominent role in Israeli politics in recent years.
In the aftermath of the 2021 election, the Ra‘am party leader, Mansour Abbas, joined with opposition leaders from across the political spectrum to unseat Netanyahu. This made Ra’am the first independent Arab party to join an Israeli coalition.
Naftali Bennett’s government collapsed after one year, opening the door for Netanyahu to return.
The Joint List‘s Platform: There is another way
The Joint List strives to change the existing political, social and economic reality, to fight the spread of fascism under the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, and to act to halt all Israeli wars – chief among them the war of annihilation against the Palestinian people. The list is based in principle on the political platform of the first Joint List (2015), and works to realise this vision through representing the national and civil issues of Arab society with head held high, without trading one for the other.
This vision rests on the essential connection between the national and democratic struggle and action for a safe life with dignity. Hence, we place the individual and their dignity at the centre of politics: we link the national and civil rights of the Arab public to social justice and peace, defend the security of our families and our homes, our children‘s education, our health, and jobs and a life of dignity, and act to translate our joint power into tangible change in people‘s lives. This is our platform, and these are the issues we will place at the top of our priorities:
Netanyahu’s far-right coalition on course to lose majority in Israeli elections, new poll suggests
“Israel’s election is not a single game, but a tournament — and election day is only the opening round,” Dr Nimrod Nir of Agam Labs told The Independent.
“Our polling suggests that neither bloc is likely to secure a governing majority, leaving three possible outcomes: a unity government bringing Netanyahu together with more liberal parties, an alternative coalition backed by Arab parties, or yet another election.
Day after meeting opposition chiefs, Golan says Arab parties could be in next government
(September 27, 2026)
Yair Golan, chair of the left-wing Democrats party, said Sunday that an Arab party could be part of the next government, exposing a fault line among opposition leaders less than a day after they met to coordinate their campaigns and pledged not to attack one another ahead of the October 27 election.
“We believe that an Arab party can be part of the government. It is natural, right, appropriate and democratic,” Golan told the Kan public broadcaster.
Poll: Arab parties reach record high of 15 Knesset seats
(October 19, 2026)
One of the most notable findings in the poll is the combined strength of the Arab parties. The Joint List, with nine seats, and Ra‘am, with five, together reach 14 seats.
In this poll, the Amcha Yisrael party and the Reservists-Economic list fail to cross the electoral threshold.
In the Channel 13 News poll, the Arab parties reach a record 15 seats.
Fascists Attempt to Storm Joint List Election HQ in Tel Aviv
Fascists identified with the racist Otzma Yehudit party, broke into the Left Bank club in Central Tel Aviv last night (Thursday, October 15). The building also serves as the Joint List elections headquarters, and branch for Hadash and the Communist Party of Israel. The intrusion occurred during the premiere screening of the “Mesarvot” occupation army refusers network’s film, “Not Refusing to Respond,” and led to physical clashes with activists.
A dozen fascists attempted to reach the floor where the headquarters operates. Police arrived only after the activists had been removed from the premises by activists. The Joint List strongly condemned the violent break-in at the campaign’s election headquarters in Tel Aviv. “This marks a dangerous new peak in political violence within the country, representing a perilous escalation and a tangible threat to election integrity. The writing is on the wall, and we must not wait for the next incident to understand the severity of the situation and act decisively,” the statement read.
אנחנו מגנים בחריפות את הפריצה האלימה הערב למטה הקמפיין העברי של הרשימה המשותפת בתל אביב.
בריוני ימין המזוהים עם עוצמה יהודית, המעורבים בקמפיין הבחירות שלה, פרצו למקום ותקפו פעילים ובני נוער שהשתתפו באירוע במועדון ״הגדה השמאלית״.
הכתובת על הקיר, ואסור לחכות לאירוע הבא כדי להבין את חומרת המצב ולפעול בנחישות.
היינו מצפים ממשטרת ישראל לחקור את האירוע ולמצות את הדין עם האחראים, אבל כשהגורמים הפוליטיים שמלבים את ההסתה הם גם אלה ששולטים במשטרה, קשה לצפות ממנה לפעול בנחישות הנדרשת.
בעוד 12 ימים, במו ידינו, נעיף את הפשיסטים מהשלטון.
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Yousef Jabareen and 2 others
6:12 PM · Oct 15, 2026
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Right-Wing Activists Disrupt Tel Aviv Screening Hosted by Arab-Jewish Party
Witnesses said the activists assaulted attendees and tried to reach the floor housing the Joint List‘s election headquarters; police arrived after they were removed
Right-wing protesters storm Tel Aviv building housing Joint List campaign office
Zo HaDerekh, a communist publication affiliated with the Joint List’s Hadash faction, reported that only after the protesters left did police show up on the scene at the Left Bank, a central Tel Aviv club that houses several left-wing civil society groups and serves as the base for the Joint List.
The club was hosting the screening of a film by left-wing group Mesarvot (Hebrew for “refusers”), which calls on youth to refuse to serve in the IDF.
Joint List Headquarters in Tel Aviv Reportedly Stormed by Right-Wing Activists
The Joint List party reported that right-wing activists, including Mordechai David, violently entered its Tel Aviv election headquarters. Police arrived after the incident, and Knesset Member Ofer Cassif demanded an investigation. Hadash activists filed a police complaint regarding the break-in.
Israeli groups receive testimonies of 22 Palestinian prisoners shot at close range in Israeli detention
JERUSALEM, October 15, 2026 (WAFA) – Two leading Israeli human rights groups revealed on Thursday that they received testimonies of 22 Palestinian prisoners shot at close range in Israeli detention centers, according to Arab News.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) said that they have documented “22 testimonies and reports from attorneys, prisoners’ families, and released prisoners point to the dangerous practice of firing rubber- or plastic-like bullets at close range inside prison wings.”
The testimonies span seven detention facilities, including Ofer, Ganot, Ktzi’ot, Gilboa, Megido, Nitzan and Eshel.
Torture in Israel Today
Does torture exist in Israel?
It definitely is.
Every year, the public committee against torture in Israel (PCATI) receives dozens of complaints alleging to physical and psychological torture used by ISA (Shabak) interrogators. Torture methods reported include painful shackling, sleep deprivation, exposure to extreme heat or cold, threats, sexual harassment, and religion- based humiliation. In addition, instances of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by the Israel police and Israel prison service are regularly reported.
Is torture legal?
No.
Torture and cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment are absolutely prohibited, both by international as well as Israeli law. However, Israel has yet to enact a law explicitly prohibiting torture, despite its previous commitment to do so.
Israel’s Arab parties could be the kingmakers in its election
They are eager to change the government
Joint List makes Palestinian state a condition for post-election support
Hadash Party and Joint List chairman Prof. Yousef Jabareen has declared four central demands from the heads of the anti-Netanyahu bloc parties as a condition for negotiating support for an alternative government after the elections.
Among the demands: a plan to combat crime in the Arab sector, the development of Arab communities, a plan for young people, and a diplomatic horizon for establishing a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
المشتركة המשותפת The Joint List
Join us as partners
Poll: 8 seats for the Joint List and a single seat separating the camps of Eizenkot and Netanyahu
The camp of Zionist parties opposing Netanyahu is projected to secure 52 seats, compared to 51 seats for Netanyahu‘s camp, along with the four seats that the Handel-Zelicha alliance is expected to obtain, which has yet to announce which camp it will join.
As for Arab representation, represented by the two Arab lists; the Triangular Joint List, which includes the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, the National Democratic Assembly, and the Arab Movement for Change, and the United List, together they are projected to obtain 13 seats, with 8 for the Joint List and 5 for the United List.
Netanyahu’s Electoral Strategy: Deadlock
(October 2, 2026)
An AI-generated Likud campaign video, which Netanyahu himself has shared, shows Eisenkot running toward a young man wearing an “Israeli unity” shirt who resembles his son Gal, who was killed in the Gaza war. At the last moment, the young man turns away from Eisenkot to embrace Mansour Abbas, the leader of the United Arab List (Ra’am). Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana has similarly said that “Eisenkot has no coalition without Abbas.” Such messages target so-called soft-right voters who might otherwise drift toward Eisenkot.
Israeli Supreme Court overturns Joint List, Ra‘am, Cassif election ban
(October 2, 2026)
In a decision announced on Friday, the court allowed the Joint-List—consisting of Hadash, Ta‘al and Balad – alongside Ra‘am, as well as Hadash MK Ofer Cassif, to run in the upcoming election set for 27 October.
Israel bans Arab parties from election: Who they are, why it matters
(September 26, 2026)
Israel’s Central Elections Committee has voted to bar the country’s two main Arab-majority political lists from next month’s parliamentary election, potentially leaving Palestinian citizens of Israel without their principal representatives in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.
The committee also voted to disqualify Ofer Cassif, a Jewish politician from the Arab-Jewish Hadash party, and Sami Abu Shehadeh, the leader of the Palestinian nationalist Balad party.
Israeli election authorities ban all Arab parties from running in upcoming Knesset poll
Israel‘s Central Elections Committee (CEC) has barred all of the country’s Arab parties from running in the Knesset elections in October.
The committee, which is made up of representatives from major political parties, including MKs, voted to exclude the entire Joint List, which is made up of the Balad, Hadash, and Ta’al parties, as well as the Ra’am party.
The Joint List Submitted Its Candidate List for the Next Elections
In sixth place on the list is incumbent Member of Knesset Dr. Ofer Cassif, who has represented Hadash in the Knesset since 2019. Cassif, who lives in Rehovot, has distinguished himself in recent years through grassroots field activity against the occupation of the Palestinian territories, the war against the Palestinian people in Gaza and social struggles, alongside his extensive parliamentary work.
The Leaders of the Joint List Met with European Union Ambassadors to Israel
(August 21, 2026)
The leadership of the Joint Lis, including the alliance’s chairman, Prof. Yousef Jabareen, MK Dr. Ahmad Tibi, and former MK Sami Abu Shehadeh, alongside Hadash MK Ofer Cassif and Joint List candidate Jafar Farah (Hadash), met in Tel-Aviv on Thursday, August 20, with more than twenty European Union ambassadors to Israel. This marks the Joint List’s first diplomatic meeting since the announcement of its formation.
@ListJoint The Joint List held its first diplomatic meeting with ambassadors from European Union Member States.
(August 21, 2026)
We highlighted the grave threats facing the integrity and fairness of elections in Israel, specifically the political persecution of parties and parliamentarians representing Arab citizens, alongside racist attempts to undermine their legitimacy.
We also addressed the expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank and the escalation of state terror against Palestinians, carried out by settler milicias with military cooperation and protection and in blunt violation of international law.
We have commenced the meeting by emphasizing the vital role of the European Union and its Member States in combating racism, advancing democratic norms and human rights, and promoting an immediate end to the occupation to achieve a just peace.
Hadash, Ta’al and Balad Re-establish the Joint List Ahead of Israel’s Election
The three parties last ran together in 2021, along with the Islamist Ra’am party headed by Mansour Abbas. But Ra’am decided to break off months before the election and run independently. Ra’am won four seats and joined the Naftali Bennett-Yair Lapid coalition.
“In the coming weeks,” Jabareen wrote in a post to X/Twitter on Wednesday evening, “we will work with all our strength to increase voter turnout among the entire public and ensure that the Netanyahu, Ben Gvir, Smotrich government does not return to power.” “This is not only our mission, but also the mission of everyone who seeks to change the difficult reality in which we live.” According to a Maariv poll published last Friday the Joint List would win eight seats.