‘Like we don’t exist’: Palestinians in West Bank denied say in Israel vote

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have no voice in the October 27 election, even as Israel’s government shapes their lives through settlement expansion, home demolitions and movement restrictions.

Atallah al-Jahalin, Jabal al-Baba’s community representative, looks at a map of Israel’s E1 settlement plan, which threatens the forcible displacement of him and his community [Leila Warah/Al Jazeera]

Jabal al-Baba, occupied West Bank – In Jabal al-Baba, a small Bedouin community east of Jerusalem, Israel controls almost every aspect of Palestinians’ daily life, from building homes and accessing water to moving freely.

Yet when Israelis head to the polls on October 27, the vast majority of the nearly three million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank will have no say in choosing the government that rules their lives under occupation – unlike the 700,000 Jewish settlers living in some 300 illegal settlements and outposts across the territory, including occupied East Jerusalem.

“They treat us like something that doesn’t exist,” said Atallah al-Jahalin, Jabal al-Baba’s community representative.

“You don’t have the right to vote. You don’t have the rights that you would have in a democratic state.”

About 450 people live in Jabal al-Baba, a community in Area C, which makes up about 60 percent of the occupied West Bank and remains under full Israeli military and civil control.

Many residents here raise sheep and goats beside homes made from corrugated metal. Most belong to the Jahalin tribe, whose families were expelled from the Naqab (Negev) desert region by Israeli authorities in the years after the Nakba, the violent ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Zionist militias in 1948.

“You are forbidden from building a house. You are forbidden from building a street. You are forbidden from building a school,” said al-Jahalin. “Everything is forbidden to us.”

Residents face constant pressure from Israeli soldiers and settlers, al-Jahalin said, on top of repeated demolitions.

“In the past few years, we have had more than 100 demolition operations in our community,” he said. “We were constantly rebuilding our homes.”

Israel says it demolishes Palestinian structures built without permits , which are almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain. Israeli rights group Bimkom found authorities rejected more than 99 percent of Palestinian building permit applications in Area C between 2021 and 2024.

While Palestinians are restricted from developing, Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law, are expanding at a record pace. In April, Israel’s security cabinet was reported to have approved 34 new settlements in a single decision, including outposts legalised retroactively, according to Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement watchdog group.

For al-Jahalin, the aim is clear: to push his community out and make way for settlers.

“There is an Israeli plan to displace the people who are here,” he said. “All of this is a means of pressure. We have to leave these areas for the benefit of the settlement projects.”

The illegal Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim in the occupied West Bank, viewed from the Bedouin village of Jabal al-Baba, which faces the threat of forcible displacement as plans to expand settlements in the E1 area move forward [Leila Warah/Al Jazeera]

E1 exposes limits of government change

In this month’s vote, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party and the far-right coalition it leads face a tight race against an opposition alliance consisting of an assortment of parties that are united in their stated aim to “preserve and strengthen Israel as a Jewish and democratic state”.

The opposition grouping has not declared an official leader, but former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, of the centrist Yashar party, is seen as its most likely candidate for prime minister.

Recent polls indicate the two blocs are running neck and neck, with neither side appearing on course to win a majority. Most leaders of the Jewish-led opposition bloc, meanwhile, have ruled out joining forces with the Arab-led parties that represent the Palestinian citizens of Israel who make up about 20 percent of its population.

But for many Palestinians, a change at the top would mean little .

Jamal Juma’, coordinator of the grassroots Stop the Wall campaign, said decades of occupation have taught Palestinians not to expect a new government to shift fundamental Israeli policies. He pointed out that it was Israel’s centre-left Labour Party – and not the right – that began building settlements in the West Bank after 1967.

For Jabal al-Baba, the clearest test of what a change in government would mean is E1, a strip of land between Jerusalem and the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, where the community sits.

The E1 project would link the settlement to Jerusalem, cutting the West Bank in two and threatening the forced displacement of some 18 Bedouin communities, including Jabal al-Baba.

In August 2025, Israel gave final approval to 3,401 settler homes in E1, which far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said would “bury” the idea of a Palestinian state . A month later, Netanyahu vowed “there will be no Palestinian state. This place belongs to us.”

This year, the government put the land up for sale in two tenders, timed to advance before the election. Israel’s attorney general has since moved to delay parts of the process until after the vote, and Smotrich is challenging that in court.

In the lead-up to the election, Eisenkot rejected the idea of a Palestinian state as “delusional” while also expressing support for “strengthening” settlements. But asked about the E1 tenders in August , he said: “Not now.” He called advancing the project a mistake with an international cost, and said far-right ministers and settler violence were damaging Israel’s standing abroad.

That puts him at odds with the current government over the timing of E1 – but not over the idea of settling the West Bank.

“There may be a democracy, but only for Jewish people,” said Kareem Jubran, field research director at Israeli rights group B’Tselem, which describes Israel’s rule over Palestinians as apartheid.

“Even if the governments change, the system remains,” he said. “If the left exists, it is a Zionist left. It is not very influential in Israeli political life.”

In Jabal al-Baba, where settlement expansion threatens the community’s future, al-Jahalin has reached a similar conclusion.

“It may be Eisenkot, it may be Netanyahu,” he said. “Israeli policy is already on the table. It doesn’t matter who carries it out.”

A campaign billboard for Israeli politician Gadi Eisenkot stands at the entrance to an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank [Leila Warah/Al Jazeera]

A system no election will dismantle

Whoever forms Israel’s next government will continue to exercise decisive power over the lives of Palestinians in the West Bank, which was divided into three areas – A, B and C – as part of the Oslo Accords in the 1990s.

Israel’s control is most direct in Area C, but its restrictions reach across the West Bank.

“The Israelis are controlling everything in the West Bank, every single thing,” said Juma’, of the Stop the Wall campaign, citing Israel’s control of the movement between Palestinian cities and villages, as well as access to water and electricity and the territory’s borders.

“Every city and every village, they have constructed a gate at the entrance,” he added.

Juma’ also warned that continued fragmentation could turn the West Bank into isolated enclaves, cutting Palestinian communities off from one another.

“It will be like open prisons, like Gaza,” he said. “But here we have different Gazas.”

Jubran, of B’Tselem, said stopping that trajectory depends on international pressure, not the outcome of Israel’s election.

“If the international community were determined to take practical steps to stop the E1 project, it could,” he said. “As long as it is not, E1 will go ahead.”

Back in Jabal al-Baba, the threat of renewed forcible displacement is looming large.

Al-Jahalin said his family was expelled from the Naqab once already – but he will not leave again.

“I am not ready to live the life of my father,” he said. “I, as a Palestinian, will stay, whether I die or live on this Earth.”

被占领的西岸巴勒斯坦人在 10 月 27 日的选举中没有发言权，而以色列政府却通过扩大定居点、拆除房屋和限制行动自由来影响他们的生活。

贾巴尔·巴巴社区代表阿塔拉·贾哈林正在查看以色列E1定居点计划的地图，该计划威胁到他和他的社区将被迫迁离。[莱拉·瓦拉/半岛电视台]

贾巴尔·巴巴，被占领的西岸——在耶路撒冷以东的贝都因人小社区贾巴尔·巴巴，以色列几乎控制了巴勒斯坦人日常生活的方方面面，从建造房屋和获取用水到自由行动。

然而，当以色列人在 10 月 27 日前往投票站时，被占领的西岸近 300 万巴勒斯坦人中的绝大多数将没有发言权来选择统治他们在占领下生活的政府——这与居住在该地区（包括被占领的东耶路撒冷）约 300 个非法定居点和前哨站的 70 万犹太定居者不同。

“他们把我们当成不存在的东西，”贾巴尔·巴巴社区代表阿塔拉·贾哈林说道。

“你没有投票权。你没有在民主国家应有的权利。”

贾巴尔·巴巴社区位于C区，约有450人居住于此。C区约占被占领的西岸地区的60%，仍然处于以色列的军事和民事完全控制之下。

这里许多居民在用波纹铁皮搭建的房屋旁饲养绵羊和山羊。他们大多属于贾哈林部落，该部落的家族在1948年犹太复国主义民兵对巴勒斯坦进行暴力种族清洗（纳克巴）后的几年里，被以色列当局驱逐出纳盖夫沙漠地区。

“你们不准盖房子，不准修路，不准建学校，”贾哈林说，“对我们来说，一切都是禁忌。”

贾哈林说，除了不断遭到拆迁之外，居民们还面临着来自以色列士兵和定居者的持续压力。

他说：“过去几年，我们社区进行了超过100次拆迁作业。我们一直在重建家园。”

以色列声称会拆除未经许可建造的巴勒斯坦建筑物，而巴勒斯坦人几乎不可能获得此类许可。以色列人权组织Bimkom发现，2021年至2024年间，C区超过99%的巴勒斯坦建筑许可申请被当局驳回。

巴勒斯坦人的发展受到限制，而根据国际法被认定为非法的以色列定居点却以前所未有的速度扩张。据以色列反定居点监督组织“和平现在”（Peace Now）称，今年4月，以色列安全内阁在一项决议中批准了34个新的定居点，其中包括追溯性合法化的前哨站。

对于贾哈林来说，他的目标很明确：将他的社区驱逐出去，为定居者腾出空间。

他说：“以色列计划驱逐这里的人们。这一切都是一种施压手段。为了定居点项目的利益，我们不得不离开这些地区。”

从贝都因村庄贾巴尔·巴巴眺望位于被占领的西岸的以色列非法定居点马阿勒·阿杜明。随着E1地区定居点扩张计划的推进，该村庄面临着被迫迁离的威胁。[Leila Warah/半岛电视台]

E1 揭示了政府变革的局限性

在本月的投票中，以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡领导的利库德集团及其极右翼联盟将与由各种政党组成的反对派联盟展开激烈角逐，这些政党团结一致，其公开目标是“维护和加强以色列作为一个犹太民主国家的地位”。

反对派团体尚未宣布正式领导人，但中间派政党亚沙尔党的前陆军总司令加迪·艾森科特被视为最有可能的总理候选人。

近期民调显示，两大阵营势均力敌，双方似乎都难以赢得多数席位。与此同时，大多数由犹太人领导的反对派联盟领导人已排除与代表以色列巴勒斯坦公民（约占以色列人口20%）的阿拉伯政党结盟的可能性。

但对许多巴勒斯坦人来说，高层更迭意义不大。

“停止建墙”草根运动协调员贾迈勒·朱马表示，数十年的占领让巴勒斯坦人明白，不要指望新政府会改变以色列的根本政策。他指出，1967年后，以色列中左翼的工党——而非右翼——开始在西岸修建定居点。

对于 Jabal al-Baba 社区而言，检验政府更迭意味着什么的最清晰标准是 E1 地带，这是一条位于耶路撒冷和非法定居点 Ma'ale Adumim 之间的狭长地带，该社区就坐落于此。

E1 项目将把该定居点与耶路撒冷连接起来，把西岸一分为二，并威胁到包括贾巴尔·巴巴在内的约 18 个贝都因人社区的被迫流离失所。

2025年8月，以色列最终批准在E1区建造3401套定居者住房。极右翼财政部长贝扎莱尔·斯莫特里奇称，这将“埋葬”巴勒斯坦建国的想法。一个月后，内塔尼亚胡誓言“不会有巴勒斯坦国。这片土地属于我们。”

今年，政府分两次公开招标出售这块土地，时间安排在大选前。以色列总检察长随后采取行动，试图将部分程序推迟到投票之后，斯莫特里奇已就此提起诉讼。

在选举前夕，艾森科特驳斥了巴勒斯坦建国的想法，称其为“妄想”，同时又表示支持“加强”定居点建设。但当被问及8月份的E1项目招标时，他却说：“现在还不是时候。”他称推进该项目是一个会付出国际代价的错误，并表示极右翼部长和定居者暴力正在损害以色列的国际声誉。

这使他在 E1 项目的启动时间上与现任政府产生了分歧，但在解决西岸问题的想法上却没有分歧。

“这里或许存在民主，但那只是犹太人的民主，”以色列人权组织B'Tselem的实地研究主任卡里姆·朱布兰说道。该组织将以色列对巴勒斯坦人的统治描述为种族隔离。

他说：“即便政府更迭，体制依然不变。如果说左翼存在，那也是犹太复国主义左翼，它在以色列政治生活中影响力不大。”

在贾巴尔·巴巴，定居点的扩张威胁着社区的未来，贾哈林也得出了类似的结论。

他说：“可能是艾森科特，也可能是内塔尼亚胡。以色列的政策已经摆在桌面上，谁来执行并不重要。”

在被占领的约旦河西岸，以色列定居点入口处竖立着以色列政治家加迪·艾森科特的竞选广告牌。[Leila Warah/半岛电视台]

一个任何选举都无法瓦解的制度

无论谁组建以色列下一届政府，都将继续对西岸巴勒斯坦人的生活行使决定性权力。西岸在 20 世纪 90 年代根据奥斯陆协议被划分为 A、B 和 C 三个区域。

以色列对C区的控制最为直接，但其限制范围遍及整个西岸。

“以色列人控制着西岸的一切，每一件事，”停止修建隔离墙运动的朱马说道，他列举了以色列控制巴勒斯坦城镇乡村之间的交通，以及水、电和领土边界的获取。

“每个城市、每个村庄都在入口处建了一座城门，”他补充道。

朱马还警告说，持续的分裂可能会使西岸变成孤立的飞地，使巴勒斯坦社区彼此隔绝。

他说：“这里就像露天监狱，就像加沙一样。但这里的情况与加沙不同。”

来自 B'Tselem 的 Jubran 表示，阻止这种趋势取决于国际压力，而不是以色列选举的结果。

他说：“如果国际社会决心采取切实措施阻止E1项目，他们完全可以做到。但只要国际社会没有这样的决心，E1项目就会继续推进。”

回到杰巴尔巴巴，再次发生强迫流离失所的威胁迫在眉睫。

贾哈林说，他的家人之前已经被驱逐出内盖夫一次了——但他不会再离开了。

“我还没准备好过我父亲那样的生活，”他说。“作为一名巴勒斯坦人，无论生死，我都会留在这里。”