Today, Israel's Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and his Likud party texted frantic messages to Israelis, warning them that Arab citizens were "coming out in droves to the polls." This unprecedented incitement and racism, which would be the equivalent of the GOP texting to constituents that the blacks are voting, seemed to be the result of panic in Netanyahu's camp.
Below is the text of one such message sent out to Israelis this afternoon:
"Voter turnout in the Arab sector is three times higher! The threat is real: Abu Mazen's calls and American money are getting the Arab vote out. Go and vote!"
Not only were the messages false – voting in the Arab sector was normative – they employed shocking racism and preyed upon ugly fears to drive voters to the poll. This after Netanyahu's remarks making clear that he would
never allow for a Palestinian state to form if he were to be re-elected.
The result of such incitement? Netanyahu and Likud turned what exit polls predicted to be a virtual tie with the center-left 'Zionist Camp' into a decisive victory. Below are the results with over 90 percent of the vote in, and Likud showing 30 Knesset seats to Zionist Camp's 24.
Netanyahu will almost certainly be Israel's next Prime Minister. Indeed, this is something Netanyahu himself was quite certain of earlier this evening, as the below Tweet attests:
Today has shown that racist incitement against Arab citizens and pledges to deny Palestinians statehood yields election results. And if indeed Netanyahu ends up
winning this election forming a government on the back of such elements, a question must be asked:
How will the United States, and President Obama, deal with an Israel being led by someone who has finally admitted to standing firmly against the two-state solution, a U.S. foreign policy cornerstone?
The answer may determine the fate of Israel and Palestine, not to mention U.S.-Israel relations moving forward.
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David Harris-Gershon is author of the memoir What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, recently published by Oneworld Publications.
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