Israeli Protesters Demand Alliance with Arab Parties to Oust Netanyahu

Hundreds of Israelis took to the streets on Saturday, calling for an alliance between the opposition and Arab parties to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has escalated his attacks on the leaders of the country’s Arab minority.

Arab-majority parties made significant gains in Tuesday’s elections, fueled by outrage over the rhetoric targeting this minority from Netanyahu’s hardline right-wing government. However, opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot has not yet decided whether to seek a coalition with them.

Ayellet Raz, a participant in a gathering in Tel Aviv, said that the Arab minority, which makes up about 20% of Israel’s population, has the right to political participation.

Raz, a 60-year-old psychologist, added, “This is the last chance to bring about real change,” warning that Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, is a “master manipulator.”

Neither camp succeeded in securing a majority in the 120-seat Israeli parliament.

An alliance between the two camps would give the anti-Netanyahu bloc a comfortable majority of 67 seats, although some opposition parties have rejected this idea.

Some of the signs carried by the approximately 500 demonstrators in Tel Aviv bore slogans such as “Arabs and Jews will only triumph together” and “There is a majority for change.”

Arab parties have officially participated in only one Israeli government, when Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas joined a short-lived coalition that lasted from 2021 to 2022.

Youssef Jabarin of the Joint List told Agence France-Presse that he was prepared to support Eisenkot in parliament without joining his government, citing, among other concerns, the war in Gaza.

Eisenkot, 66, a former military commander and newcomer to politics, largely shares Netanyahu’s positions on security issues, including Gaza, which Israel has reduced to rubble since Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023.

On Saturday, Eisenkot reiterated that he would form only a “Zionist government,” whose members would commit to “recognizing Israel as a Jewish, democratic, and liberal state” and “recognizing Hamas as a terrorist organization,” conditions that Arab leaders have previously refused to accept.

Netanyahu sought to stir claims of electoral fraud on election day, alleging that Arab parties were caught with envelopes containing cash.

Police said they arrested three suspects, but the Elections Committee described the incident as an isolated local case.

Netanyahu later returned to claim that Arab politicians had received illegal support from Qatar.

On social media on Saturday, Netanyahu wrote that cooperation with Arab parties would be a “disaster for Israel.”

President Isaac Herzog is expected to grant one of the party leaders a mandate to form a government within 28 days by Thursday, with the possibility of extending the deadline by an additional 14 days.