

In Nazareth, a focus on Arab rights .

In Nazareth, the unofficial capital of Israel’s Arab minority, voters said they were backing the Joint List of predominantly Arab parties because that was the only slate that represented their interests.

Many said they hoped greater Arab representation in Parliament would lead to more effective policies for Arab citizens, who make up a fifth of Israel’s population.

The wish list includes a crackdown on crime, violence and illegal weapons in Arab towns, an end to house demolitions and the cancellation of the Nation-State Law that the Parliament passed last year. The law enshrined the right of national self-determination as “unique to the Jewish people” — not all Israel’s citizens — and effectively downgraded the status of the Arabic language. It was denounced by liberal Israelis as anti-democratic and racist.

But most of all, Arab voters appeared to be hoping their ballot would help oust Mr. Netanyahu.

Nassim Mussalam, 60, a projects engineer, said he wanted “to stop seeing or hearing Netanyahu,” as well as the prime minister’s family, and to bring an end to his government’s “racist laws.”

In April’s election, Arab turnout was 49 percent, one of the lowest on record. The parties making up the Joint List ran separately and won a total of 10 seats in the short-lived Parliament. Having reunited into the Joint List, its leader, Ayman Odeh, hoped for a much larger turnout that could help topple Mr. Netanyahu.

Arriving to vote with his family in the Kababir neighborhood of Haifa on Tuesday morning, Mr. Odeh said being “first-class voters” would help the Arabs become “first-class citizens.” — Mohammed Najib