After boycotting Israeli parliamentary elections his entire life, 55-year-old Said Kabat will head to the polls for the first time on Oct 27. For him, the vote is existential — if a right-wing government is returned to power, he fears for the future of Israel's Arab minority, to which he belongs.

The pharmacist from the Arab village of Majd al-Krum in northern Israel used to boycott elections "all the time". "But now, I will go out and vote," he said, concerned that a low turnout among the Arab population would embolden the far-right elements of the current ruling coalition.

Arab Israelis account for about 21 per cent of the country's population, descendants of Palestinians who remained within Israel's borders after the state's creation in 1948. They have long complained of discrimination compared with Israel's Jewish majority.