The Arab and Jewish Israelis who believe peace is still possible

BEN LYNFIELD talks to members of Standing Together, a Jewish-Arab endeavour trying to reignite hope among those in despair at Israel’s new extreme-Right government.

As Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu crafts coalition agreements that will likely result in the most right-wing, anti-Arab government in Israeli history, what's left of the Left is anxious and despairing.

The main left-wing Zionist party, Meretz, after three decades in the Knesset, failed to pass the minimum threshold. Its backers are in free fall. Likewise, the Palestinian nationalist Balad party. The leaders of the Labour party and centrist Yesh Atid seem to be spending much of their energy blaming each other for the electoral catastrophe.

Moreover, unabashed racists are set to take up key portfolios as Netanyahu allies prepare to wind back democratic aspects of the Israeli state such as Supreme Court oversight. The likely new Internal Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, is surging in popularity while calling for the expulsion of "disloyal" citizens, including Arab leaders. Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism party, has plans for ratcheting up pressure on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

But amid this bleak landscape, there is a group on the Left that aspires to hit back. Standing Together, a flourishing grass roots Jewish-Arab endeavour, is already hard at work planning the downfall of Netanyahu and the far Right - as unlikely and unattainable as this may currently seem.

From its creation six years ago, the group's working assumption has been that Arabs and Jews can and must work together to advance peace, equality and social justice. Since the election, the group has held 11 meetings in its chapters across the country to discuss how to address the daunting new situation. It has gained hundreds of new members, increasing its ranks to about 4000 people, according to its leaders.