Ben-Gvir scrambles door-to-door for votes as Arab turnout surges

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir went door-to-door on Tuesday, urging Israelis to vote before polls closed, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition allies intensified efforts to mobilise right-wing voters by portraying a reported surge in Palestinian turnout as a threat.

Footage shared by Ben-Gvir on X showed him accompanied by security personnel and campaign aides as he knocked on apartment doors, asking residents whether they had voted and urging those who had not to head to polling stations.

"In Rahat, the turnout percentages are insane," Ben-Gvir told one resident, referring to the predominantly Palestinian Bedouin city in southern Israel.

Earlier on Tuesday, Ben-Gvir visited the outskirts of Kafr Qasim, a Palestinian-majority town in central Israel, where he warned supporters that high Arab turnout could help Palestinian politicians Mansour Abbas and Ahmad Tibi gain political influence.

"If you want this country to remain Jewish and Zionist, if you want to keep this state from falling into the hands of Mansour Abbas and Ahmad Tibi, go out and vote," he said.

The last-minute mobilisation came as Netanyahu repeatedly warned supporters about Palestinian Arab participation in the election, drawing accusations of racism and incitement from Palestinian political leaders.

Cars flying Netanyahu's Likud party flags drove through Jerusalem playing the Islamic call to prayer and urging people to vote because "Arabs are voting", witnesses told Reuters.

Netanyahu also shared images purporting to show long queues at polling stations in Palestinian-majority communities.

"If we don't wake up now, we'll find ourselves with a government of Mansour Abbas and Ahmed Tibi," he wrote.

Turnout across Israel reached 55.7% during the first nine hours of voting, the Central Elections Committee said, marking the fastest pace on record. However, the national figure does not independently establish the scale of turnout among Palestinian Arab voters.

Palestinian politicians condemned the right-wing campaign, accusing Netanyahu and his allies of treating the democratic participation of Palestinian citizens of Israel as a threat.

Sami Abu Shehadeh, leader of the Palestinian Balad party, said long queues outside polling stations should inspire "pride and joy to anyone who believed in democracy".

"We are receiving all these inciting messages from the petty racists, Ben-Gvir, Netanyahu, and their partners. What are they afraid of? This is actually an excellent sight; it is good for democracy," he wrote on X.

Tibi said strong Palestinian Arab participation could "pave the way for an alternative government and change the grave reality".

Meanwhile, Netanyahu's Likud party sought an extension of voting hours, a request opposed by Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party.

The opposition party accused Likud of attempting to create grounds for challenging the election's legitimacy.

"No exceptional incident has occurred that would justify granting this request, which is intended to lay the groundwork for allegations challenging the integrity of the election, continuing the lies Netanyahu has been spreading since this morning," the party said.

The campaign echoes Netanyahu's previous election tactics, in which he has sought to rally right-wing voters by warning of high Palestinian Arab turnout.

The election is the first since the October 2023 Hamas-led attacks and Israel's subsequent wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.

Opinion polls ahead of the vote suggested Netanyahu's coalition could lose its parliamentary majority, although opposition parties also faced difficulties securing the 61 seats needed to form a government.