Israelis urge opposition to join forces with Arab parties to oust Netanyahu
Hundreds of Israelis took to the streets in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Saturday, urging the opposition to form an alliance with Arab-majority parties to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has stepped up his attacks on the minority group’s leaders.
Arab-majority parties made significant gains in Tuesday’s election, driven by anger over rhetoric targeting their community from Netanyahu’s radical government.
However, opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot has yet to decide whether to seek a coalition with them.
At a rally in Tel Aviv, Ayelet Raz said the Arab community, which makes up around 20% of Israel’s population, had the right to political participation.
“It’s the last chance for real change,” the 60-year-old psychologist said, describing Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, as a “great manipulator”.
“We need to give peace a chance,” she said. “Otherwise we’ll have this bloodshed forever.”
Inconclusive election results
Tuesday’s election produced no clear winner, with neither bloc securing a majority in Israel’s 120-seat parliament.
Jewish-majority parties opposed to Netanyahu won 48 seats, while the two Arab-majority parties, Raam and the Joint List, secured a combined 19 seats.
An alliance between the two camps could give the anti-Netanyahu bloc a comfortable majority of 67 seats, although some opposition parties oppose the arrangement.
Around 500 protesters in Tel Aviv carried placards reading “Arabs and Jews will only win together” and “There is a majority for change”.
In Jerusalem, where around 100 people gathered, signs included “67 — United we stand, divided we get Bibi” and “Why not, really — unless we are racist?”
Arab parties have formally joined an Israeli government only once, when Raam leader Mansour Abbas became part of a short-lived coalition that governed from 2021 to 2022.
Abbas has indicated he would be willing to join another government.
Yousef Jabareen of the Joint List, meanwhile, told AFP he was prepared to support Eisenkot in parliament without joining his government, citing concerns including the war in Gaza.
Eisenkot, 66, a former military chief and political newcomer, broadly shares Netanyahu’s security positions, including on Gaza, which Israel has devastated since the October 7, 2023, attacks.
On Saturday, he reiterated that he would only form a “Zionist government” whose members recognise Israel as a “Jewish, democratic and liberal state” and Hamas as a “terrorist organisation”. Arab leaders have previously rejected these conditions.
Although Eisenkot has said he does not want a government dependent on Arab parties, he has not explicitly ruled out relying on their support from outside the coalition.
Yair Golan, leader of the left-wing Democrats, has strongly backed the prospect of a government supported by Arab parties, arguing that excluding them would be racist. He also met Abbas on Thursday.
However, Avigdor Liberman, head of the right-wing anti-Netanyahu Yisrael Beiteinu party, has ruled out joining a coalition that relies on Arab parties, even for support from outside the government.
“Whoever wants to rely on supporters of terrorism, let them. Yisrael Beiteinu will not be there,” he wrote on Facebook on Friday.
More than 100 Netanyahu supporters staged a counter-protest alongside the Tel Aviv rally, chanting “It’s the Right, or Palestine”, a slogan used during the prime minister’s election campaign.
President Isaac Herzog is expected to give a party leader a mandate to form a government within 28 days by Thursday, with a possible 14-day extension.
The coalition negotiations are unfolding as Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump have hinted at a possible new attack on Iran, a development that could allow the Israeli premier to delay political manoeuvring until fresh elections.