Leaders of the impressive Jewish-Arab “Standing Together” movement have announced that a new party called “A Place for All of Us” to be led by movement leaders Rula Daoud and Alon-Lee Green will run in the upcoming elections. This has aroused a furious debate on Facebook and on the op-ed pages of Ha’aretz.

Standing Together leaders launch new Arab-Jewish party: ‘A Place for Us All’:(Photo: The Times of Israel)

While some people are celebrating the announcement, and one friend and colleague even says “now I finally have someone to vote for”, others are warning that the initiative will only waste votes that would have gone to one of the parties in the right-center-left opposition bloc. And it might also damage the non-partisan identity of the grassroots “Standing Together” movement.

There is no question in my mind that a Jewish-Arab party could be an important addition to the Israeli political arena.  It would be a realization of the principles of the 1948 Israeli Declaration of Independence that we are so far from today.  That document signed by the 37 members of “The People’s Council”, from the right wing Herut (forerunner of today’s Likud) to Meir Vilner head of the Communist Party, stated that “The State of Israel…will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all of its inhabitants;........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)