Israeli protesters march for Arab-Jewish unity as coalition talks drag

Left-wing activists poured into the streets, blocking roads and prompting police to move in and disperse them, according to Euronews. Marchers sat down on the asphalt, chanted slogans and squared off with officers. Others stepped on a campaign poster of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. No governing coalition has emerged from the election.

The throughline was unity: Jewish and Arab parties governing side by side to crack the electoral deadlock. A placard in Hebrew spelled it out — "Arabs and Jews - Only together will we win." Some in the crowd taunted the far right, shouting "Ben Gvir lost!" at the expense of politician Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Their timing matters. The inconclusive vote left Netanyahu and opposition parties scrambling for a parliamentary majority. Parties representing Israel's Arab population could end up decisive in coalition negotiations. Protesters argued that a government blending Jewish and Arab parties was the route to political change.

Not everyone framed it as a coalition math problem. Some carried a banner calling Israel an apartheid state rather than a democracy, a direct knock on the country's political system. Megaphones and banners kept the march rolling, with police shadowing the route the whole way.