From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Smotrich stokes fears of Arab turnout, urges right-wing voters to abandon smaller parties
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.
Religious Zionism leader and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich seeks to stoke fears of high Arab and left-wing voter turnout in an increasingly desperate appeal to right-wing voters to abandon smaller parties, after the Central Elections Committee announced that turnout had reached 16.7% as of 10 a.m., up from 15.9% at the same hour in 2022 and the highest recorded at that hour since at least 1996.
“The high turnout is the result of unusually high voting rates in the Arab sector and left-wing strongholds,” Smotrich claims, even though the nationwide figures do not establish which communities are driving the increase.
“Based on the published figures, there is absolutely no chance that parties currently below the electoral threshold will cross it,” he declares, despite the early turnout figures offering no basis for such a conclusion. “Don’t throw your vote in the trash.”
His appeal appears directed primarily at those considering voting for Ofer Winter’s far-right People of Israel party, which has resisted an intense pressure campaign by Smotrich and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud to withdraw from the race amid fears it could siphon votes from other right-wing parties or waste them by failing to cross the electoral threshold.
Smotrich’s warning also echoes a familiar campaign tactic employed by Netanyahu and his allies, who have repeatedly sought to mobilize right-wing voters by stoking fears of high Arab turnout and the prospect of a left-wing government supported by Arab parties.
The Times of Israel Community.