Nineteen Arab seats have brought an end to the Israel we knew. Listen to this sentence and remember it. Yesterday was not an election; it was a death announcement. An idea that had existed for 77 years died: the idea of a state for Jews alone, governed by Jews alone.
Only three numbers were needed to kill it. Netanyahu's 53 seats mean that half of Israel does not want him, even after two wars and October 7. Eisenkot's 48 mean that the other half does not trust a general who has never fought a war.
19 for the Arabs. That is the whole story.
Nineteen Arab seats mean 16% of the Knesset. This means that no Jew in Israel will be able to say, "I am the prime minister," unless an Arab says, "I agree." Do you understand? For the first time, a religious Jew from Jerusalem needs permission from an Arab from Nazareth to form his government. For the first time, a general from Tel Aviv needs permission from an Arab from Umm al-Fahm to pass his budget. The Joint List has become the third-largest party.
It is now bigger than Bennett's party, whose leader once served as prime minister, and bigger than Lieberman's party, whose leader once served as defense minister.
Why is this the end rather than just another election? Because the law says you need 61 seats to govern. Netanyahu has 53. Where can he find the eight seats he is missing? Nowhere.
All the parties have said they will not sit in a government with Ben-Gvir. Eisenkot has 48. Where can he find the 13 seats he needs? He would have to get them from the Arabs. Yet he has said he will not sit with the Arabs in a government, accepting their support only as a safety net. In other words, both men are lying. Both are incapable of governing.
So who will be Israel's next prime minister? Here is the answer that no one on television is saying: the next prime minister will not be elected by Israelis; the Americans will appoint him.
Today, Trump reportedly said through his close associates: "I will never accept a government that includes Ben-Gvir." He also said: "Saudi Arabia will not normalize relations with Israel as long as Netanyahu remains in office."
The equation is now as clear as the American sun. Saudi Arabia wants Netanyahu out, while the Arabs inside Israel hold 19 seats that prevent him from governing. Three forces have come together against one man.
What will happen tomorrow? Tomorrow, the counting of 600,000 votes cast by military personnel will be completed. Even if those votes give Netanyahu two additional seats, he will reach only 55 and will remain unable to govern.
There is only one scenario that could keep Israel on its feet: a single government imposed by Trump by force. Eisenkot would serve as prime minister for two years, Netanyahu would go on trial, Ben-Gvir would go home, and Saudi Arabia would sign the agreement.
If this does not happen, Israel is heading for a sixth election, a caretaker government, and streets engulfed in flames as secular and religious Israelis clash.
The conclusion, in a single sentence that even your young child can understand, is this: the Arab citizen inside Israel, whom we used to call a minority, has prevented the Jew from governing his own state.
This means that the idea of a purely Jewish state has died and been buried. And the 19 seats dug its grave.
History was made yesterday, and the fact that most people have not understood that it was made is proof that secular, civil, democratic struggle is the real struggle, and the only one through which Arabs can defeat Zionist sectarianism. Not through the conflict led by those who wear keffiyehs and those who wear clerical turbans.
A serious, sober, and powerful analytical article was written by a Palestinian citizen of the State of Israel following the elections. It reached an Arab citizen living in London, who passed it on to me through a friend. I read it and was struck by its reasoning and sound judgment, so I decided to publish it in full in "Al-Mawqif – Annahar," the column I have been writing for decades.
Meanwhile, two days ago, I received a telephone call from an old and long-standing friend, a turbaned cleric living in Iran who holds both Iranian Islamic Republic and Lebanese citizenship. After exchanging greetings, he made a number of remarks that led me to decide to publish his article verbatim, so that analysts, politicians, and anyone else might interpret it and understand its implications.
First, the Gulf states, the "Arab" Gulf, had been "throwing their full weight behind" America in its confrontation with Iran. But they took a severe beating directly from the Houthis and the Iranians, while America did not defend them. Its forces left their bases in the Gulf and withdrew to Jordan, where protection is greater and where they are also better positioned to continue the war from there. The Gulf states have realized, or will soon realize, that America is not an ally that defends its partners, or perhaps that its president, Trump, is not.
Second, there is the trilateral alliance comprising Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey. Saudi Arabia thought this alliance would protect it from Iran and the Houthis, but that assumption proved wrong and misplaced. Is this not a mutual defense agreement? What does that mean? Saudi Arabia is not attacking; it is being attacked. So where is the defense?
Turkey has done nothing and has no intention of doing anything.
Third, forces within the United States have begun to mobilize. They do not like Iran, but they want the war with it to end because of its enormous cost and the failure to achieve the hoped-for results. They also want those who took the decision to launch it to be held accountable.
Fourth, America is changing from within in opposition to Trump because of Iran. It has also become increasingly hostile toward Iran because of Trump and Netanyahu. Muslims now sit in both the US Senate and the House of Representatives, and the governor of its most important state, New York, is also Muslim.
The question Iran is now raising, along with several other countries around the world, is this: Will defeating Trump, or his suffering defeat or failure, come to be seen as a defeat for America itself?
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the writers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Annahar.
