During the campaign before the last general elections in April, billboards went up throughout Arab communities and towns in the Galilee urging voters to boycott the vote. Many residents assumed the ads, which did not identify their sponsors, were an initiative of political forces in the Arab community such the Islamic Movement’s Northern Branch, which traditionally boycotts Israel’s national elections.

A campaign ad on a billboard displayed in Arab communities before the April 9, 2019 election urging Arabs to boycott the vote; the ad reads: “Who should I tell you stories about (literally, films)..!:Violence and killings.. are on the rise.” The message behind the sarcastic and idiomatic contention is that no Arab list is worth voting for, because, according to the libelous fabrications of the racist right-wing Jewish sponsors of the campaign, allegedly none of the Arab MKs deal with the day to day problems of their constituents; the scourge of violence in the Arab sector of Israeli society being ostensibly one of the most palpable, even though domestic security in any modern state, Israel included, is the responsibility of the police, but they continually refuse to seriously address the problem, many would say, precisely for political reasons. (Footage: Channel 12)

However, a Channel 12 news inquiry broadcast on Friday, September 6, revealed that the campaign was very likely commissioned and financed by right-wing Jewish settlers who hoped to significantly decrease Arab turnout at the polls. Channel 12 contacted the companies that sold the billboard space or produced the ads, and discovered they had all worked with anonymous clients whose accents and comments indicated they were Jews.

One firm, A.A. Barak Billboards and Advertising, said it had turned down a 250,000 Shekel ($71,000) order from a client who expressed a desire to suppress Arab turnout. Asked what more he could say about the customer, the ad company owner, whose name was not revealed by Channel 12, added, “I think he’s someone from the settlements. He said I should bring him a receipt and the receipt will be sent to the United States, some nonprofit there, and they will send me the money. He said he wants as few Arabs as possible to vote.”

MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash), chair of the Joint List, demanded a criminal probe following the Channel 12 report. “This evening it became clear that suppressing our vote is their victory,” he said in a Twitter post. “We won’t let them settle in our ballot stations. We demand a criminal investigation. Those responsible should be in prison.”