Arab parties in Israel accuse Netanyahu of inciting hatred to scare voters

What the report says

Arab-led political parties in Israel have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of using inflammatory language about Palestinian citizens to help his election chances. In comments reported by Al Jazeera on Tuesday, the Joint List’s Yousef Jabareen and the United Arab List’s Mansour Abbas said Netanyahu’s remarks were meant to stir fear and mobilize right-wing voters.

According to the report, Netanyahu posted on X that Arab voters were “raiding the polling stations and stealing the elections,” while also referring to them as “Muslim Brotherhood supporters.” In another post, he urged right-wing Israelis to vote for Likud and described the situation as urgent for his party. The comments came as voting was under way in Israel’s general election.

Al Jazeera also reported that Adalah, a legal rights group for Arab citizens in Israel, received complaints from Arab voters about discouragement at polling stations, slow or halted queues in some Arab-majority towns, and a shortage of Arabic ballot slips. The group said it raised the issue with election authorities.

The episode is significant because it highlights long-running tensions over Arab political participation in Israel and the role such rhetoric can play in a closely contested election. For broader context, Arab parties in Israel often face political pressure and accusations from mainstream leaders during election campaigns, though the specific claims in this report were tied to the day’s voting and the social media posts cited by Al Jazeera.