A newly formed Jewish-Arab political list has entered Israel's election campaign with a stated goal of mobilizing young voters who have stayed away from the ballot box. The party, called A Place for Us All, was set up by figures associated with Standing Together, a small left-wing protest movement that advocates peace and social equality.
Launched in June, the party is fielding a slate evenly split between Arab and Jewish candidates and is campaigning under a message of unity as it seeks to win seats in the Knesset in the October 27 election. Its organizers say they are aiming to persuade younger citizens who feel overlooked by the political system to participate.
"We want to speak directly to today’s young voters that stay at home, those who look at the political system and feel unseen," said Alon-Lee Green, co-leader of A Place for Us All. Green also highlighted the party's gender balance and youthful composition, noting the list comprises women and men equally. "We’re young people, we come from the ground," Green added. "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."
The party's arrival comes against a tense backdrop. Israel’s Arab minority, citizens who are Palestinian by heritage, constitute about one fifth of the population but have historically recorded lower turnout than Jewish Israelis. In the 2022 election, just 53.2% of Arab voters cast ballots compared with roughly 75% of Jewish voters. That participation gap has been cited as a factor that helped return Benjamin Netanyahu to power and unseat the first government in Israel's history to include an Arab party.
Relations between Jewish and Arab citizens were further strained after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and the ensuing Gaza war. Observers and Arab leaders say those events have heightened communal tensions and complicated electoral calculations heading into the first nationwide ballot since that violence.
Critics of A Place for Us All warn that the new list could fragment a constituency that has long struggled for political leverage. Israel’s parliamentary system imposes a 3.25% electoral threshold that parties must surpass to win seats. Smaller lists that fail to cross that bar effectively squander votes that could otherwise contribute to representation.
"Any vote given to such a party would simply be a waste of votes that the Arab societies cannot afford," said Arik Rudnitzky, an expert on Arab society at the Israel Democracy Institute.
Arab parties currently hold 10 of the Knesset’s 120 seats. In some recent contests a unified ticket of the main Arab parties, known at times as The Joint List, has been an effective instrument for consolidating support. When the Joint List first ran in 2015, it won 13 seats on roughly 64% Arab turnout and became the Knesset’s third-largest faction. The alliance reached its peak in the March 2020 election, drawing nearly 65% Arab turnout and winning 15 seats.
Efforts to recapture that level of unity have so far been uneven. Ahead of the upcoming vote the four main Arab parties have been attempting to revive an alliance to maximize turnout and avoid losing seats to the threshold. A Place for Us All's entry complicates those calculations because a new list could draw away votes that otherwise would align behind an agreed joint list.
Established Arab party leaders have been skeptical of the newcomers. "I don’t see chances for them or other new parties to pass the threshold," said Yousef Jabareen, leader of Hadash, an Arab-Jewish party. He suggested the new party should reconsider its strategy.
Ahmed Tibi, leader of Ta’al, described a similar concern. "Meanwhile, we’re trying to do our utmost to unify all our parties for one joint list," he said, adding that an additional fringe party in the race was unhelpful to those efforts.
Party founders counter that their intention is not to cannibalize existing Arab votes but to expand the electorate. Green said A Place for Us All is aiming to attract citizens who have historically stayed away from elections, especially younger people. He expressed confidence the party could surpass the electoral threshold and said talks were under way with other parties about a possible merger. He also said the party would not run if it concluded it could not pass the threshold.
Arab community grievances cited by critics and activists include chronic underinvestment in Arab towns and a rise in violent crime, authorities and residents say, trends that have contributed to a sense of second-class treatment that many in the minority assert has deepened under the current government. The present administration is widely described as the most right-wing in Israel's history and includes ministers from the far right.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a member of the government, has been convicted of anti-Arab racist incitement and currently oversees the police, a fact critics point to when discussing the deterioration of trust between Arab citizens and state institutions.
Netanyahu has a history of mobilizing his base around concerns about Arab turnout. On election day in 2015 he urged his right-wing supporters to head to the polls early, warning that Arabs were flocking to the polls "in droves." In the current campaign he has continued to argue that if his rivals succeed they could again form a government that relies on Arab parties.
The coming weeks will test whether A Place for Us All can translate its grassroots appeal into parliamentary seats without eroding the broader Arab bloc’s chances of influencing the next government. With Arab turnout and party consolidation central to calculations about who can form a governing coalition, the strategic choices of new and established parties alike are likely to be watched closely.
Summary
A Place for Us All, a Jewish-Arab party founded by leaders of the Standing Together movement, launched in June and is appealing to young, disengaged voters while emphasizing gender parity and a unified list of Arab and Jewish candidates. Critics warn it could split an already underrepresented Arab electorate ahead of the October 27 election, potentially reducing the community's parliamentary influence under Israel’s 3.25% electoral threshold. Established Arab parties and analysts have expressed skepticism about the new list's chances and whether it helps or hinders efforts to consolidate Arab votes.