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From left: Ahmed, Zen, and Bilal Al-Qassassi, Nimr Abu Schiban, and Einad Al-Qassassi; in Rahat, southern Israel, October 27, 2026. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)

By noon on Tuesday, it seemed clear that that the upheaval of the past few years in Israeli society — from the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, to the inclusion of far-right parties in the government — was driving changes in voting behavior in southern Israeli communities.

One of the key outcomes of the national elections was an apparent sharp rise in the Arab Israeli vote.…