Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party announced it would seek to disqualify two Arab-majority parties from participating in the upcoming Knesset election scheduled for October 27. The parties targeted by this move are the Joint List and the United Arab List (Ra'am).

According to Anadolu Agency, Likud accused these parties of supporting terrorism, alleging that they disparage Israeli soldiers and refuse to label Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations. However, the statement from Likud did not provide specific evidence to back these allegations.

This development occurs as Likud intensifies its focus on its main electoral competitor, Gadi Eisenkot, the former army chief of staff and leader of the Yashar party. Likud has characterized the two Arab parties as natural allies of Eisenkot, suggesting that he might depend on them, alongside opposition leaders Yair Golan and Avigdor Lieberman, to form a government.

The Joint List is an alliance of various Arab political parties in Israel, while Ra'am, led by Mansour Abbas, contests elections independently after splitting from the Joint List. Notably, Ra'am made history in 2021 by becoming the first Arab party to join an Israeli governing coalition.

Recent polls indicate that Eisenkot's Yashar party is leading Likud, although neither Netanyahu's bloc nor the opposition has a clear majority to secure the 61 seats required to form a government. This situation could potentially give Arab parties a crucial role in post-election coalition negotiations.