Natalie Portman addressed an online fundraiser for the party on Sunday [Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images]
US-Israeli actress Natalie Portman has endorsed a new Jewish-Arab party contesting Israel’s October Knesset elections, taking part in an online fundraiser on Sunday.
Addressing the fundraiser for A Place for Us All, Portman described the party as “one of the most courageous and exciting developments in Israel-Palestine in recent years”, according to Haaretz.
Portman pointed to polling by Israel’s Channel 13 showing the party has the support of around 50,000 voters, putting it on 0.8% ahead of October’s Knesset elections, which she said was a promising sign of its potential.
“This shows there’s real potential here,” she said, adding: “These numbers and the reactions in the street fill me with optimism.”
The party emerged from Standing Together, a grassroots Jewish-Palestinian movement within Israel that has frequently protested against Israel’s war on Gaza since it began in 2023, as well as Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel, and the US-Israeli war on Iran.
From its inception, the party said it aimed to attract young voters, women, and those who have become politically disengaged with Israel’s existing parties.
Its election list includes six figures from Standing Together, including co-leaders Alon-Lee Green and Rula Daood.
Polling shows opposition still needs Arab parties
Despite its launch and polling at 0.8%, A Place for Us All remains below Israel’s 3.25% electoral threshold required to win seats in the Knesset.
Green said during Sunday’s fundraiser that if the party failed to secure enough votes to cross the threshold, it could reach agreements with other parties, adding that votes cast for the movement would not be wasted even if it ultimately failed to enter parliament.
In such a scenario, the party would likely cooperate with other left-wing or Arab parties contesting the election.
The comments come as fresh polling from Israel’s Channel 12 again suggests the opposition would be unable to form a government without the support of Arab parties, a prospect some opposition figures have openly rejected – a stance Arab parties say is rooted in racism against Palestinian citizens.
According to the poll, released on Monday, the opposition bloc is projected to win 69 seats, with former general Gadi Eisenkot’s Yehsar! leading on 24 seats, Naftali Bennett’s Together on 15, and Yair Golan’s The Democrats on 11.
Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu is polling on nine seats, while the Arab parties Hadash-Ta’al and Ra’am are each projected to win five.
That would leave the Jewish opposition on 59 seats, short of the 61 needed to secure a parliamentary majority and form a government.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition is projected to win 51 seats, with Likud on 23 seats, Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit on eight, the ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism also on eight each, and Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism on four.
