U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee posted on X on Israel’s election day: “Today is election day in Israel, which is a national holiday. All voting is in person, ID required. No mail-in or absentee ballots. Arabs vote same as Israelis. Contentious process, but it’s a democracy-not many of those in this region!”
Israeli journalist Barak Ravid replied: “Mr. Ambassador, the Arabs who vote are Israelis…”
Journalist Eli Clifton wrote: “The U.S. ambassador to Israel appears to be unaware that Arabs voting in Israel are Israelis.”
The U.S. ambassador to Israel appears to be unaware that Arabs voting in Israel are Israelis.
https://t.co/nKCVyyiChw
— Eli Clifton (@EliClifton) October 27, 2026
Drop Site News went further. “Palestinian citizens of Israel are Israelis,” it wrote. “It is the equivalent of saying ‘Black people vote same as Americans.’”
Drop Site added that Israel’s Central Elections Committee voted last month to ban both major Arab party lists from the ballot, a decision the Supreme Court overturned.
The latest from the “only democracy in the Middle East”:
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee hailed Israel’s election as proof of democracy, writing that “Arabs vote same as Israelis.” But Palestinian citizens of Israel are Israelis. It is the equivalent of saying “Black… https://t.co/GEQmOfeL6w pic.twitter.com/r7cSgHE4ce
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) October 27, 2026
The remark landed the same day Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was campaigning on Arab turnout. In a video to Likud voters, he said Arab voters were “racing to the ballots” and were “trying to steal the election from us,” the Times of Israel reported.
He told supporters: “No beach, no barbecue, everyone goes out to vote Likud.” He said “what hangs in the balance is the future of our Jewish state.”
Transport Minister Miri Regev wrote on X: “They’re trying to steal the election and the country from us.”
Likud asked election authorities to extend voting hours. Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party opposed the request. “No unusual incident has occurred that would justify approving the request,” it said, adding that the bid aimed to lay groundwork for claims against the election’s integrity.
The Joint List, an Arab-led alliance, said turnout in Jewish communities remained higher than in Arab ones, contrary to Netanyahu’s claims.
Huckabee later replied to Ravid: “Correct @BarakRavid & I should have stated it that way! 10 million ppl in @Israel 8m Jews, 2m Arabs. ALL are Israeli citizens-Jew, Muslim, or Christian. All vote, serve in IDF, in Knesset, & proudly have Israeli passports. Women equal to men. All have free speech.”
[NOTE: Military service is not compulsory for most Arab citizens of Israel, although they may volunteer. Druze and Circassian men are generally subject to conscription.]