A new Jewish-Arab political party is courting young voters ahead of Israel's October election, but critics warn it could weaken the Arab minority's already fragile bid to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government.
Arab citizens, who are Israeli by nationality and largely Palestinian by heritage, make up around one-fifth of Israel's population. However, they have traditionally voted in lower numbers than Jewish Israelis and have long wrestled with balancing their Palestinian identity with their Israeli citizenship.
Founded by leaders of the left-wing protest movement Standing Together, A Place for Us All was launched in June and hopes to enter parliament in the October 27 election.
The vote, the first national election since Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack and the ensuing Gaza war, comes amid heightened tensions between Jewish and Arab citizens. The party is campaigning on a platform of Jewish-Arab partnership and social equality in an effort to unseat what it describes as Israel's most right-wing government.
"We want to speak directly to today's young voters who stay at home, those who look at the political system and feel unseen," said Alon-Lee Green, the party's co-leader. Its candidate list is evenly split between Jewish and Arab members.
Arab citizens have long complained of discrimination and unequal treatment, grievances they say have intensified under Netanyahu's current coalition.
Criticism has focused particularly on National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who was convicted of anti-Arab racist incitement before entering government and now oversees the police. Arab communities also point to chronic underinvestment in their towns and a surge in violent crime in recent years.
Turnout among Arab voters was just 53.2% in the 2022 election, compared with roughly 75% among Jewish voters. Analysts say the gap helped return Netanyahu to power and ended Israel's first governing coalition that included an Arab party.
Netanyahu has long been accused by Arab leaders of using inflammatory rhetoric to mobilise his supporters. On election day in 2015, he urged right-wing voters to turn out, warning that Arab citizens were heading to polling stations "in droves". During the current campaign, he has again argued that his opponents would rely on Arab parties to form a government if they win.
The launch of A Place for Us All comes as the four main Arab parties seek to rebuild an electoral alliance aimed at maximising Arab turnout.
Under Israel's proportional representation system, parties must secure at least 3.25% of the national vote to enter parliament. Smaller parties that fail to cross the threshold risk splitting the vote and leaving supporters without representation.
Analysts say the new party could further weaken an already underrepresented minority.
"Any vote given to such a party would simply be a waste of votes that Arab society cannot afford," said Arik Rudnitzky, an expert on Arab society at the Israel Democracy Institute.
Green rejected that argument, saying the party hopes to expand the electorate rather than divide it by attracting people who rarely vote. He also said gender equality was a central principle, with women and men equally represented among candidates.
"We're young people, we come from the ground," Green said. "It was difficult to decide this is the time to compete over votes, but I look at the existing parties and I see it's mostly men, it's very old."
He said the party was confident it could clear the electoral threshold and was discussing a possible merger with existing parties. However, he acknowledged it would withdraw if it became clear it could not win enough support.
Most Arab political leaders have dismissed the newcomers' prospects.
"I don't see chances for them or other new parties to pass the threshold," said Yousef Jabareen, leader of the Arab-Jewish Hadash party. "I think it's time for them to recalculate."
Arab parties currently hold 10 of the Knesset's 120 seats.
In previous elections, the Joint List — an alliance of the four main Arab parties — proved the community's most effective vehicle for boosting turnout. It won 13 seats in 2015 with about 64% Arab voter turnout, becoming the Knesset's third-largest bloc, before reaching a peak of 15 seats in the March 2020 election as turnout approached 65%.
Efforts to revive the alliance have so far stalled, with only three of the four parties agreeing to cooperate.
"The meantime, we're trying to do our utmost to unify all our parties into one joint list," said Ahmad Tibi, leader of the Ta'al party, arguing that another fringe party entering the race only complicates those efforts.