As Netanyahu Heads for Reelection, Palestinians Decry Vote to 'Entrench and Expand Apartheid'

With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly poised to win reelection by a razor-thin margin after a campaign filled with overt anti-Arab racism, voter suppression tactics, and extremist promises—such as his last-minute vow to annex the West Bank—Palestinian officials decried the election outcome as a vote to “entrench and expand apartheid.”

“The extremist and militaristic agenda, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, has been emboldened by the Trump administration’s reckless policies and blind support.”
—Hanan Ashrawi

“Regrettably, Israelis overwhelmingly voted for candidates that are unequivocally committed to entrenching the status quo of oppression, occupation, annexation, and dispossession in Palestine and escalating the assault on Palestinian national and human rights,” Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said in a statement Wednesday.

“They have chosen an overwhelmingly right-wing, xenophobic, and anti-Palestinian parliament to represent them,” Ashrawi added. “The extremist and militaristic agenda, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, has been emboldened by the Trump administration’s reckless policies and blind support.”

Speaking anonymously to the Associated Press, an aide to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas echoed Ashrawi’s assessment, saying the election outcome is a victory for the “extreme right-wing camp” in Israel.

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