With just one week left before the final deadline Sept. 15 to submit lists of candidates for Israel’s November election, many polls show general apathy among the Arab population toward anything to do with the election.

Pollsters now anticipate unprecedented new lows in election participation and voting in the Arab sector. Voting rates in the Arab society are now expected to be slightly less than 40%, as compared to 44.6% in the last election, and as high as 64% in the March 2020 election with all the components of the Arab Joint List running as a unified bloc.

While it is still too early to determine the actual outcome of the impending vote and the rate of Arab participation, it is hard to ignore the fact that apathy and distrust in the political system nationwide are gaining momentum within the Arab public. An increasing number of Arab citizens are losing faith in the notion that they can play an integral and influential role in the Israeli political system.

Of course, there are all kinds of reasons to explain what caused Arab citizens to lose trust in the political system as a whole and in their Arab representatives in particular. Nevertheless, it is increasingly common in Arab society — and especially among the youth — to hear comments like, “It’s the same people and the same faces in every election,” "Aren’t there any young Arabs?” or “Isn’t it time to infuse fresh new blood into politics?”