Sami Abu Shehadeh, leader of the Arab party Balad, has accused Israel's main political leaders of racism for refusing to work with Arab parties after an election that produced no clear winner, Al Jazeera reports.
Arab parties are on course for a record 19 seats. With 85% of votes counted, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc had at least 53 seats and the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot 48, both short of the 61 needed for a majority. Eisenkot and his allies have signalled they want a government without the Arab parties.
Abu Shehadeh did not stand himself. The elections committee had voted to disqualify him at the request of Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over an article written after the 7 October 2023 attack, and he withdrew when the Supreme Court appeared likely to uphold the ban.
Source: Al Jazeera
