Palestinian parties in Israel agree to revive Joint List ahead of elections
The four main parties representing Palestinian citizens of Israel agreed on Thursday to move towards running on a joint list in the upcoming Israeli parliamentary elections.
Leaders of the four parties signed a pledge to revive the Joint List following a strike and mass protests against gun violence in the northern city of Sakhnin.
The move followed sustained pressure from Palestinian citizens, who have long called on the parties to unite under a single political framework.
The pledge document, entitled "Joint List Now", was signed by Sami Abu Shehadeh, head of the National Democratic Assembly (Balad); Ayman Odeh, head of the Hadash alliance; Ahmad Tibi, head of the Arab Movement for Change (Ta’al); and Mansour Abbas, head of the United Arab List (Ra’am).
The parties first formed the Joint List in 2015 to run on a shared platform representing Palestinian citizens of Israel.
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The alliance collapsed ahead of the 2021 elections after Ra’am split from the bloc, drawing criticism for forming alliances with non-Palestinian parties.
Leaders of Raam, Hadash, Taal, and Balad signed an agreement Sakhnin, which held the main march, to re establish the Joint List, signaling renewed political coordination.
— Etan Nechin (@Etanetan23) January 22, 2026
Palestinian/Arab parties just reasserted themselves as a legit force.
pic.twitter.com/AcqSCFK8k1
Since then, public pressure has mounted for the parties to set aside their differences, particularly amid the war on Gaza and rising crime within Palestinian communities in Israel.
Although talks on reviving the list have taken place in recent months, they made little progress until this week.
Israel is expected to hold elections by October at the latest. According to polls, the Joint List would be the third biggest bloc in parliament.
Public pressure
Thursday’s agreement followed large-scale protests and an open-ended strike against gun violence and alleged Israeli complicity in organised crime.
The action began on Tuesday in Sakhnin and has since spread to several other Palestinian-majority towns, making it one of the largest protest movements in the community in years.
The strike comes amid a sharp rise in violent crime. The NGO Abraham Initiatives has described 2025 as the deadliest year on record for Palestinian citizens of Israel.
In 2025, 252 Palestinians were killed in criminal incidents, up from 230 in 2024. Since the start of this year, at least 19 people have been killed.
Party leaders met on Thursday in Sakhnin to discuss further protest action. Amid strong public pressure to revive the Joint List, they signed the pledge to work towards renewed cooperation.
A spokesperson for one of the parties told the Times of Israel that Abbas and other leaders were “ambushed into a public agreement”.
“You can’t say it’s absolutely final, but such a public commitment will lead to more serious meetings, and everyone will be afraid to look like the ones who collapsed the list,” the spokesperson said.
Abu Shehadeh welcomed the pledge, saying it laid the foundation for cooperation and was more important than specific details.
“It has restored hope and spirit to our people everywhere, showing that we are a capable community,” he told the news site Arab48.
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