Have there ever been more racist, more discriminatory elections in Israel and the US than the ones the world has watched in the last month?

It is not that this is a new phenomenon. Previous iterations have involved copious examples of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab racism. Questions must be asked as to whether this is getting worse, whether it will be addressed and how.

Let’s take the Israeli elections. Even now, the political system is almost paralyzed over whether Israeli Zionist parties will be prepared to form a coalition that is dependent on the two Palestinian parties, which got 19 Knesset seats between them. These 19 seats were achieved because of a historically high turnout in the Palestinian sector, caused by, among other things, the racist and extremist policies and rhetoric of the current Israeli coalition, not least ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

The high turnout came despite the far right sending teams of monitors to polling stations in Palestinian areas to monitor and intimidate. It required a Supreme Court ruling to overturn a Central Elections Committee ban and allow the United Arab List to even participate. This should not be occurring in a properly functioning democratic system, which Israel is not.

Palestinian citizens have to battle for equality in Israel. Their votes count for less if their parties are excluded from coalition building

Chris Doyle

Israeli political leaders vied with each other to sound more anti-Arab. Netanyahu once again warned of a surge in Palestinian votes. Remember also the allegations of foreign interference in the Israeli elections, for which Likud has offered no evidence.

Palestinian citizens have to battle for equality in Israel. Their votes count for less if their parties are excluded from coalition building because they are not Jewish.

The US midterm elections also witnessed a tidal wave of anti-Muslim prejudice. Much of it was directed at Abdul El-Sayed, who has now been elected as a senator in Michigan. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called El-Sayed a “jihadist leprechaun.”

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the Republican governor-elect of Alabama, has warned that “the enemy is inside the gates,” referring to Muslims. He also called Islam “a cult.”

Last year, Republican Reps. Keith Self and Chip Roy organized a Sharia-Free America Caucus. This was widely condemned by Democrats in Congress.

Polling consistently highlights the extent of America’s Islamophobia problem. According to a May poll, 43 percent of US adults said Muslims are less patriotic than other Americans, while 42 percent believed Muslim Americans are having a negative impact on the country. In a 2024 survey, 36 percent of Americans said they would not vote for a Muslim presidential candidate, even if they tended to agree with their politics. The trend is worse among Republican voters.

Inaction on Sudan, Yemen and Syria has stemmed from dehumanized and racist views of the victims

Chris Doyle

But is there also Islamophilia? After all, the US will have its first ever Muslim senator in El-Sayed. There will also be at least eight Muslims in the House of Representatives in January. And it was only last November that Zohran Mamdani became the first Muslim mayor of New York City.

Clearly, a large segment of US voters do not buy into the hatred. But that does not mean that there has been a full-on embrace of Islam and Muslims either.

In Israel, the rays of hope are far fainter. But could Gadi Eisenkot renege on his campaign pledge not to depend on the Palestinian parties? His statements on Sunday suggest he might. Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman continues to rule out being part of a minority government dependent on Palestinian support.

Netanyahu is a wounded political animal fearing for his political survival. The danger is immense. He will continue to stir the hatred. Worse, he has aggressive options in the coming weeks, including a war on Iran and a ramping up of the genocide in Gaza.

These negative attitudes typically shape both Israeli and American aggression. Jewish Israeli voters overwhelmingly back what the Israeli military has done to Gaza, let alone the West Bank. They are blind to the genocide, ethnic cleansing and system of apartheid or, in the more extreme cases, content with those policies. Many US voters are happy to back Israeli actions because of their prejudice.

The opposition to the war on Iran is strong in the US, but not Israel, because of the economic consequences of the war rather than the destructive impact it has on Iranian civilians. Inaction on Sudan, Yemen and Syria has stemmed from dehumanized and racist views of the victims.

Anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia are arguably at their visible worst in Israel and then the US. Yet major elections next year, not least in France, are the next great challenge, with the far right threatening to gain power on a surge of anti-immigrant hatred and Muslim bashing.

All this represents a major struggle going forward. It will take time and effort but hopefully, one day, elections will happen in these countries where the primary issues do not revolve around hate, where faith, gender and skin color do not divide the political camps and true equality prevails.

  • Chris Doyle is director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding in London. X: @Doylech