In the cold Palestinians left isolated by 'Israeli spring' unity

As the light faded and tens of thousands of protesters made their way back from the Knesset to Jerusalem's train station last week, the mood was tired but determined.

- Bethan McKernan and Quique Kierszenbaum 

Israel's newly re-elected prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is no stranger to demonstrations calling for him to resign. But the now two-month-old movement against his far-right coalition's plans to overhaul the judicial system is not like those he has faced before or like any in the country's history.

The "Israeli spring" is a rare show of unity in what is normally a deeply polarised society. Afraid that the proposals curbing the power of the supreme court will start Israel down an authoritarian path similar to that of Turkey and Hungary in recent years, upwards of 100,000 people have taken to the streets every Saturday night to voice their opposition.

The high-profile presence of sectors that would normally never get publicly involved in politics - hi-tech executives, bankers and establishment figures such as former army and intelligence officials - are forcing the government to listen.

But this centre-left rebellion against what is seen as a coup by far-right extremists has a demographic fault line: Palestinian-Israelis, who make up one-fifth of the population, have been conspicuously absent from the protests to date, even though the new government is fervently anti-Arab.