Jewish-Arab Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) and three Arab parties, Ra’am, Ta’al and Balad — are set to meet today evening, Monday, August 11, to discuss reviving the Joint List bloc ahead of the next elections.

Unformal meeting of leaders from Hadash, Ra’am, Ta’al and Balad, during the three-day hunger strike held in Jaffa for an immediate end to the war in Gaza, the release of hostages, and international recognition of Palestinian statehood, July 27, 2025 (Photo: Al-Ittihad)

Hadash leader MK Ayman Odeh has been working in recent months to reestablish the Joint List, which was a unified slate of Hadash and the Arab parties with sharply differing ideological views but a track record of energizing Arab and Left Jewish voters and bringing an unprecedented political influence.

According to Zo Haderekh, the Hadash move comes amid growing pressure from within Arab society to bolster political influence, not just in the opposition in Knesset but in the streets. Growing anti-war activism has also created a rare moment of alignment among Hadash and Arab political leaders. This followed a 10,000-person protest against the war in Gaza on last July in the northern Arab city of Sakhnin sponsored by Partnership for Peace, just a day after 24 people were arrested at a similar demonstration in Haifa. Other anti-war rallies also took place in Jaffa, Nazareth, Tira, Taybe. Umm el-Fahm, Kabul and more Arab localities.

“After Sakhnin and Jaffa, the desire to build upon the Joint List project is growing,” a Hadash spokesperson told journalists. “But this is something that has been in the works for a long time.” In the 2015 elections, the newly formed Joint List won 13 seats out of 120 in the Knesset, while boosting turnout in Arab-majority locales to 64% — a significant rise over the 55% turnout recorded two years earlier.

Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32880