The coronavirus is taking its toll in Israel. The past few weeks have seen the country rocked with all sorts of protests over the dire economic situation that the virus has caused. Protesters, who cross sociopolitical lines, are accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of mishandling the crisis. Israelis of all stripes have been participating in Black Flag protests, as well as more particular protests by Israeli artists, social workers, the self-employed, and others.

The one group that is conspicuously absent from this festival of democracy is the Arab public. And it’s not because they would have to make the trek to far-off Tel Aviv or Jerusalem either. Anyone watching these protests will notice that they even avoid the Black Flag protests on Saturdays, although many of these take place at intersections not far from major Arab towns or villages. In other words, they are literally right across the street.

For years, Israel’s Arab citizens made a point of protesting only when the matter at hand constituted a direct attack on the community or its interests. That is what happened during the protests against the 2018 Nationality Law , which anchors the Jewish nature of the State of Israel, or last year’s protests against rising violence in Arab society. Once the protests involve all Israelis, however, there is almost no Arab representation.

The most prominent example of this are the current protests by Israeli artists and the self-employed. Among those attending were Israelis affected by the closure of event halls, clubs, and anything else connected to leisure and entertainment activities. As we have seen in an earlier Al-Monitor article, the coronavirus-induced economic crisis has also had an enormous impact on Arab artists and the self-employed, particularly because weddings and other events have been canceled. Nevertheless, Israeli Arabs have neither participated in existing protests nor organized independently to protest the situation.