Hundreds rally in Tel Aviv to demand a Jewish-Arab government; counterprotest also expected

About 500 people are protesting at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square to demand a government of Arab and Jewish parties, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents received a combined 67-seat majority in Tuesday’s Knesset election.

Protesters chant slogans including “Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies” and “no to racism, yes to partnership.”

The protest is led by left-wing binational socialist group Standing Together.

A right-wing counterprotest is also expected to begin soon at Habima Square to demand an investigation into claims of electoral fraud, after Netanyahu’s Likud party accused Arab parties of “stealing the election” with support from hostile foreign governments. Some Netanyahu supporters have begun to gather on the edge of the plaza.

While anti-Netanyahu parties on Tuesday received 67 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, most of the Jewish-led parties opposed to the premier refuse to form a governing coalition with Arab parties, which won an unprecedented 19 seats.

On their own, the Jewish-led anti-Netanyahu parties got just 48 seats — five fewer than the the seats won by Netanyahu’s bloc.

Without Arab support or defections from the “Change bloc,” neither Netanyahu nor his Zionist opponents will be able to secure a governing majority in the new Knesset — to be sworn in on November 10.