JERUSALEM
Unofficial results of Israel's parliamentary elections have revealed that an Arab candidate running on a Jewish electoral list has won a seat - and vice versa.
Arab MP Ayoob Kara won a seat on the right-wing Likud party's electoral list, while Jewish MP Dov Khenin, who ran on the ticket of Joint Arab List, also managed to garner a seat at the new assembly.
Kara's win at the Israeli Knesset brings the number of Arab MPs at the 120-member assembly to 13.
Kara is a prominent member of the Likud, the latter of which has garnered a parliament plurality for the second Knesset elections in a row.
For his part, Khenin is a figure in the Israeli left who enjoys close relations with Israeli-Arab parties.
Exit-poll results have revealed that the Likud party - led by incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - garnered 30 seats, while its center-left rival, the Zionist Union alliance, came second with 24 seats.
"The victory of right-wing and Zionist blocs in the elections has reflected persistent security fears which still haunt Israelis," Samuel Felber, a leading activist in the Austria-based Jewish Voice, a nongovernmental anti-Zionist group, told The Anadolu Agency.
"It also reflects Israelis' unwillingness to move towards achieving peace with the Palestinians," he said.
"The new Israeli government will be leaning towards the right, further paralyzing peace talks."
The Joint Arab list came third with 13 seats, followed by Yesh Atid with 12 seats, exit polls showed.
The election commission said that the voter turnout in Tuesday's elections stood at 71.8 percent.
According to the electoral commission, official poll results will be announced on Thursday.
