Can a grassroots movement bridge Israel’s deepest communal divides?

Wars & Conflicts · Published 16 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Standing Together is Israel's largest Arab-Jewish grassroots movement, built on the premise that social justice and peace are inseparable. By uniting marginalized communities against neoliberalism and occupation, it seeks to create a shared political identity—moving from protest to a formal bid for power.

Founded in late 2015 by activists from Israel's 2011 social justice protests, Standing Together operates as a non-profit rather than a political party. Its core mission is to unite Arab and Jewish Israelis in the struggle for equality, LGBT rights, and workers' protections. While it maintains roughly equal representation in its leadership and publishes all materials in both Hebrew and Arabic, the movement has historically had more Jewish members than Arab members as of 2018.

The movement's influence is rooted in high-profile activism. It organized a 20,000-person protest against African asylum seeker deportations in 2018 and successfully campaigned to raise the minimum wage to 40 shekels per hour in 2022 with support from over 40 Knesset members. More recently, it has been central to anti-war protests following the October 2023 Gaza war, even forming a 'Humanitarian Guard' to protect aid trucks and Palestinian residents from settler violence.

Despite its grassroots identity, Standing Together relies on significant international funding. Disclosures show grants from German foundations like forumZFD (now ProPeace) and Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, as well as approximately US$750,000 from the New Israel Fund between 2015 and 2020. These resources have fueled its expansion into nine 'circles' across major cities and university campuses.

In a significant shift toward formal power, the movement announced plans to form a political party called Makom LeKulanu for the 2026 legislative elections. The goal is to create a 'truly equal' Jewish-Arab party, aiming to replace current leadership with a platform centered on peace, climate justice, and social equality.

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