Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine) 27.04.2026
Netanyahu may learn from Fatah how to win anti-democratic elections.
It is not new that the Palestinian Authority is collaborating with Israel to suppress resistance to the 1967 occupation. What is new is the technique of falsifying the election results.
Fatah claims ‘sweeping victory’ in local elections. It says it won most local including Jenin while it is known that Fath lost control over Jenin to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The Ramallah-based Central Elections Commission (CEC) published that voter turnout was around 53.44%. For the first time since 2006, Palestinians were also able to vote in Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip, though the CEC noted that only 70,000 were eligible to vote there and that turnout was only 22.7%.
Mahmoud Abbas’s promise to make 2026 the “year of Palestinian democracy,” however, experts, activists, and international media outlets pointed to defects in the electoral process.
In multiple West Bank cities, including Nablus and Ramallah, only one list has been submitted, meaning it wins automatically without needing a vote. Hamas was excluded from the Palestinian elections.
CNN also reported that Hamas was excluded from the elections as participation required candidates running to recognize Israel, support a two-state solution, and accept the program of the Palestine Liberation Organization.