Arab parties could win 18 seats in Israeli elections, exit polls suggest

Record-breaking voter turnout in Palestinian-Israeli communities around 80 percent, early indications show.Israel’s Arab parties are projected to win 18 seats in the Israeli parliament, exit polls indicate, after voting among Palestinian citizens of Israel surged to their highest levels in decades.Exit polling data from Tuesday’s vote suggested that the leading Arab-led parties, the Joint List and Ra’am, are set to hold a record number of seats in the 120-member Knesset. Updated exit polling indicated that the opposition bloc led by former Israeli military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party and the bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party were tied at 51 seats each.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Israel heads to the polls as shift to the right dominates critical electionlist 2 of 3Iranians brace for renewed attacks after Israeli, US electionslist 3 of 3Palestinian citizens of Israel can vote, but cannot expect changeend of listEarly indications put voter turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel at around 80 percent, historic numbers that break 1999 records, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Tuesday.The leader of Ra’am, or the United Arab ...