The Israeli Supreme Court ruled today that an Israeli Arab couple could not be barred from living in a community built solely for Jews. The landmark decision after more than four years of hearings was hailed as an important step toward equality for Israel's one million Arab citizens.
Do Arab citizens of Israel prefer to live in Israel?
Another poll, conducted by Professor Sami Samuha of the University of Haifa, 68.3% of Israel's Arab citizens said they preferred to live in Israel than in other countries. Samuha said that among the Arab citizens, "there is acknowledgment of convenience, freedom and stability in the State of Israel."
How many Arab communities are there in Israel?
In Israel's Northern District [151] Arab citizens of Israel form a majority of the population (52%) and about 50% of the Arab population lives in 114 different localities throughout Israel. [152] In total there are 122 primarily if not entirely Arab localities in Israel, 89 of them having populations over two thousand. [153]
What rights do Arabs have in Israel?
Arabs in Israel have equal voting rights; in fact, it is one of the few places in the Middle East where Arab women may vote. Arabs currently hold ten seats in the Knesset. Israeli Arabs have also held various government posts. Arabic, like Hebrew, was an official language in Israel until 2018.
Are there any films about Arab citizens of Israel in Israel?
Directors such as Mohammad Bakri, Elia Suleiman, Hany Abu-Assad, Michel Khleifi, and Maysaloun Hamoud have put Arab citizens of Israel on the cinematic map. Avoda Aravit (2007), or in English, Arab Labor, is a satirical sitcom written by Kashua and aired on Israel's Channel 2. A large part of the dialogue is in Arabic with Hebrew subtitles.
Can an Arab get Israeli citizenship?
The Knesset amended the Citizenship Law in 1980 to fully resolve statelessness for this group of residents; all Arab residents who had been living in Israel before 1948 were granted citizenship regardless of their eligibility under the 1952 residence requirements, along with their children.
Can an Arab own land in Israel?
There are no restrictions on the purchase of private land in Israel. Israeli Arabs or non-citizens, including Arab foreigners, may freely purchase it.
Can Palestinian people live in Israel?
The 2003 Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law effectively bans citizenship or permanent residency for Palestinians from the occupied territories who marry Israelis.
How many Arabs live in Israel?
At the end of 2020, the population of Israel stood at approximately 9,289,760, including 1,957,270 Arabs, representing 21.1% of the total. This figure includes almost 362,000 Arab residents of East Jerusalem who hold “permanent resident” status, but not full citizenship.
Can Arabs lease land in Israel?
According to Adalah, a human rights organization representing the Arab minority in Israel, Arab citizens are blocked from leasing about 80 percent of the land controlled by the state. Bedouins' lack of access to land occurs in a wider context affecting Israel's Palestinian Arab population generally.
Who has the right to the land of Israel?
It is the best proof that the whole country of Palestine and the Land of Israel belong exclusively to the Jewish people under international law. The Mandate for Palestine implemented both the Balfour Declaration and Article 22 of the San Remo Resolution.
Is Israel considered an Arab country?
The Arab nations are represented by 21 separate countries (see Table). There is only one Jewish nation with a tiny country, Israel....Arab countries versus Israel.CountryIsrael TotalGovernmentDemocracyTerritory (sq km)20,770Population (2001 est.)5,938,093GDP (Billions)$110.2026 more columns
Which Arab countries accept Israel?
Israel maintains full diplomatic relations with two of its Arab neighbours, Egypt and Jordan, after signing peace treaties in 1979 and 1994 respectively. In 2020, Israel signed agreements establishing diplomatic relations with four Arab League countries, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Morocco.
Can foreigners buy land in Palestine?
The Law allows foreign ownership in Palestine of the necessary amount of land for living, construction, and agricultural purposes. The 'Land Transfer Law' of 1920 allows any registered company within Palestine to own the land necessary for its projects and activities.
What is the Israeli Law of Return?
The Law of Return (Hebrew: חֹוק הַשְׁבוּת, ḥok ha-shvūt) is an Israeli law, passed on 5 July 1950, which gives Jews, people with one or more Jewish grandparent, and their spouses the right to relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli citizenship.
Is Jerusalem Palestine or Israel?
Israel claims the whole of Jerusalem as its capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. The US is one of only a handful of countries to recognise the city as Israel's capital.
How much land did Israel buy?
By far the largest such arrangement was known as the Sursock Purchase. As of 1944, Jews had acquired only 6% of the land in Palestine....Land purchases.Land ownership of Palestine by large Jewish Corporations (in square kilometres) on 31 December 1945CorporationsAreaJNF660.10PICA193.707 more rows
How many Arabs are there in Israel?
Roughly 21% of Israel’s more than nine million citizens are Arabs. The vast majority of the Israeli Arabs - roughly 83% - are Muslims. Arabs in Israel have equal voting rights; in fact, it is one of the few places in the Middle East where Arab women may vote. Arabs hold 15 seats in the 23rd Knesset. Israeli Arabs have also held various government posts.
What is the difference between Arab and Jewish citizens in Israel?
The sole legal distinction between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel is that the latter are not required to serve in the Israeli army.
How many seats does Ra'am hold in the Knesset?
Arabs hold 10 seats in the 24th Knesset, four of which are held by Ra’am. The other parties have been critical of Ra’am for joining the government and accuse it of collaboration and its ability to maintain its populartity will depend on its ability to fulfill its promise to deliver benefits to the Arab community.
What are the gaps between Arabs and Jews?
The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics monitors the gaps between Arabs and Jews by 62 objective and subjective indicators that cover 11 areas of life: Employment, personal safety, health, housing and infrastructures, education, personal and social welfare, environment, civic involvement, material standard of living, leisure, and use of Information and Communication Technology. In 2019, the situation of Jews was better than the situation of Arabs for 50 of the 62 indicators, in three the situation of Arabs and Jews was equal, and in nine the situation of Arabs was better.
What is Israel's policy toward Arabs?
Israel’s policy toward the Arab minority is based on two principles. One is “integration without assimilation.” Integration consists of the extension of civil rights to the Arabs, the acquisition of the basic patterns of Israeli culture by the Arabs, and their incorporation into public institutions. The Arabs become, through “Israelisation,” bilingual and bicultural, accustomed to life in Israeli society and attached to the state. To prevent assimilation, Arabs are accorded separate schools and their life in separate communities is maintained. State authorities neither plan nor approve new mixed villages, towns and neighborhoods. Arabs living next door to Jews are few. Israel does not have civil marriage. Interfaith marriages are rare and not normative. The “integration without assimilation” policy is an accepted goal by both the Arab non-assimilable minority and the Jewish non-assimilating majority.
Why were some of the new Arab conscripts being assigned to the Home Front Command in their localities or villages?
Some of the new Arab conscripts were being assigned to the Home Front Command in their localities or villages because of their familiarity with the local population and its needs.
How much did the number of Arab-Israeli students increase from 2010 to 2017?
A study released in January 2018 by the Council for Higher Education found that the total number of Arab-Israeli students pursuing all forms of higher-education in Israel rose by 78.5% from 2010 to 2017. The number of Arab-Israelis pursuing bachelor’s degrees grew by 60% from 2010 to 2017.
How to refer to the Arab citizenry of Israel?
How to refer to the Arab citizenry of Israel is a highly politicized issue, and there are a number of self-identification labels used by members of this community. Generally speaking, supporters of Israel tend to use Israeli Arab or Arab Israeli to refer to this population without mentioning Palestine, while critics of Israel (or supporters of Palestinians) tend to use Palestinian or Palestinian Arab without referencing Israel. According to The New York Times, most preferred to identify themselves as Palestinian citizens of Israel rather than as Israeli Arabs, as of 2012. The New York Times uses both 'Palestinian Israelis' and 'Israeli Arabs' to refer to the same population.
What are Arab citizens?
Arab citizens of Israel, or Arab Israelis, are Israeli citizens who are Arab. Many Arab citizens of Israel self-identify as Palestinian and commonly self-designate themselves as Palestinian citizens of Israel or Israeli Palestinians. According to a 2017 survey by University of Haifa professor Sammy Smooha, 16% of the Arab population prefers the term " Israeli Arab ", while the largest and fastest growing proportion prefers " Palestinian in Israel ", and 17% prefer " Palestinian Arab ", rejecting entirely the identity of "Israeli". In Arabic various terms are used, but most importantly, 48-Palestinian or 48-Arab ( Arabic: فلسطينيو 48، عرب 48 ). This name refers to the fact that after the Nakba, these are the Palestinians that remained within Israel's 1948 borders.
Why was Azmi Bishara banned?
In December 2002, Azmi Bishara and his party, Balad, which calls for Israel to become "a state of all its citizens," were banned by the Israeli Central Elections Committee, for refusing to recognize Israel as a " Jewish and democratic state " and making statements promoting armed struggle against it. The Supreme Court overruled the decision in January 2003. Bishara served as a Knesset member from 1996 to 2007. He reportedly told an audience in Lebanon in December 2005 that Arab citizens " [...] are like all Arabs, only with Israeli citizenship forced upon them [...] Return Palestine to us and take your democracy with you. We Arabs are not interested in it". Bishara resigned his Knesset office and left the country in 2007 amidst news that criminal charges were being laid against him. He has been charged with espionage and money laundering, stemming from allegations that he gave Hizbullah information on strategic targets that should be attacked with rockets during the 2006 Lebanon War, in exchange for large amounts of money.
How many Bedouins are there in Israel?
According to the Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel, 110,000 Bedouins live in the Negev, 50,000 in the Galilee, and 10,000 in the central region of Israel. Prior to the establishment of Israel in 1948, there were an estimated 65,000–90,000 Bedouin living in the Negev. The 11,000 who remained were relocated by the Israeli government in the 1950s and 1960s to an area in the northeastern Negev comprising 10% of the Negev desert. The Israeli government built seven development towns for the Bedouin between 1979 and 1982. Around half the Bedouin population live in these towns, the largest of which is the city of Rahat, others being Ar'arat an-Naqab (Ar'ara BaNegev), Bir Hadaj, Hura, Kuseife, Lakiya, Shaqib al-Salam (Segev Shalom) and Tel as-Sabi (Tel Sheva).
What was the war between Israel and Israel called?
Most Jewish Israelis refer to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War as the War of Independence, while most Arab citizens refer to it as al-Nakba (the catastrophe), a reflection of differences in perception of the purpose and outcomes of the war.
Why were Ta'al and Balad disqualified?
In 2009, United Arab List – Ta'al and Balad were disqualified, on grounds that they do not recognize the State of Israel and call for armed conflict against it. The Supreme Court of Israel overturned the committee's decision by a majority of eight to one.
Where do the Druze live?
Most Israeli Druze live in the north of the country and are recognised as a separate community to Arabs. The Galilean Druze and Druze of the Haifa region received Israeli citizenship automatically in 1948. After Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and annexed it to Israel in 1981, the Druze of the Golan Heights were offered full Israeli citizenship under the Golan Heights Law. Most declined Israeli citizenship and retain Syrian citizenship and identity and are treated as permanent residents of Israel.
What do Arab citizens need in Israel?
What the Arab citizens of Israel need now is to elect new leaders who will promote coexistence between Arabs and Jews in Israel, and not engage in anti-Israel rhetoric and actions.
Why are Arabs afraid of becoming Palestinians?
The main reason Arabs in Israel are afraid of becoming Palestinian citizens is because they know that the Palestinian state will be anything but democratic. Many Arab citizens of Israel see how Palestinians living under the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip are subject to human rights violations on ...
How many Arab parliamentarians are there in Israel?
The current Knesset has 14 Arab parliamentarians. Apart from the issue of elections, though, Arab citizens of Israel are mainly worried about having to live in a Palestinian state that suppresses public freedoms, including freedom of speech and the media.
What did Samuha say about Israel?
Samuha said that among the Arab citizens, "there is acknowledgment of convenience, freedom and stability in the State of Israel.". "In Israel, there are a lot of benefits and a modern way of life, as well as economic and political stability. You can't compare the lives of Arabs [in Israel] to that of Arabs in Palestine, Lebanon or Egypt.
Where do Palestinian Arab students live?
Palestinian Arab university students, however, who are not citizens of Israel, and who live in the Palestinian areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, can only envy the Arab Israeli students who are free to hold political activities on campus. Another recently published report revealed that several students arrested by the PA security forces have ...
What is the triangle area in Israel?
It suggests that the so-called Triangle area in Israel, consisting of several Arab communities "which largely self-identify as Palestinian, become part of the State of Palestine.".
Who has denied Palestinians the right to vote?
The continued power struggle between the PA and Hamas has denied Palestinians the right to vote for new members of their parliament, the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). In addition, Palestinians have been denied the right to vote for a new president since January 2005, when Mahmoud Abbas was elected for a four-year term of office. Last month, Abbas entered the 16 th year of the same term.
How many Arabs live in the Northern District of Israel?
705,200 Arabs live in the Northern District, which has a total population of 1,320,800. In 2008, Arabs made up 53% of the Northern District's population, making it Israel's only district with an Arab majority. 44% of the Arab population lives in this district. Nazareth is the largest city, with a population of approximately 66,000.
How many Arabs live in Haifa?
Central and Haifa Districts. 158,900 Arabs live in the Central District, which has a total population of 1,931,000. 237,200 Arabs live in the Haifa District, which has a total population of 939,000. The majority of the Arab population in these areas live along or near the Green Line which separates Israel from the West Bank in an area known as ...
What percentage of the population of East Jerusalem is Arab?
East Jerusalem was joined with West Jerusalem, along with several surrounding Palestinian towns and villages. Today, Arabs constitute 61% of the population of East Jerusalem and 38% of that of Jerusalem as a whole. The following are Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem.
What are the Arab towns in the Negev?
The largest Arab locality in the Negev is Rahat . Abu Qrenat. Abu Talul. Ar'arat an-Naqab.
When was the Golan Heights captured?
Golan Heights. The Golan Heights was captured during the Six-Day War in 1967 and de facto annexed by Israel in 1981. Israel governs the Golan Heights as a part of the Northern District. As a result of the war, many villages were abandoned.
Where are the Druze in Haifa?
There is a substantial Druze population in the Carmel region and the Wadi Nisnas neighborhood of Haifa.
Is East Jerusalem part of Israel?
East Jerusalem and Golan Heights are not internationally recognized parts of Israel proper but have been included in this list. The city of Acre has an Arab minority of 32%, while its Old City is 95% Arab. While Arabs constitute 11% of Haifa 's total population, they make up 70% of Lower Haifa's residents. Lod has an Arab population of 30%, ...
Introduction
Politics
- Arabs are proportionately represented in the Knesset and head all their municipalities, schools, and religious courts. The national election of 2021 was notable for a radical change in Israeli politics with the Ra’am Party becoming the first Arab party to join a governing coalition. Without it, it is unlikely that Naftali Bennett could have formed a government and Benjamin Netanyahu mig…
Gaps Between Jews and Arabs
- The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics monitors the gaps between Arabs and Jews by 62 objective and subjective indicators that cover 11 areas of life: Employment, personal safety, health, housing and infrastructures, education, personal and social welfare, environment, civic involvement, material standard of living, leisure, and use of Information and Communication Technology. In 2…
Willful Separation
- According to sociologist Sammy Smooha, Israel’s policy toward the Arab minority is based on two principles: While there is no institutional segregation, Jews and Arabs have chosen to live separately in all but a handful of cities. Israelis all recognize that Arab villages have historically received less funding than Jewish areas and this has affected the quality of Arab schools, infras…
Employment
- There are twenty employment centers established around Israel to help the Arab, Druze, and Circassian minorities find employment and receive assistance. According to the Israeli Ministry of the Economy statistics for 2015, 8,000 new Arab, Druze, and Circassian participants sought help or assistance from these employment centers. These centers have helped 13,600 members of I…
Education
- At the time of Israel’s founding, only one Arab high school was operating, today, there are hundreds of Arab schools. Most Arabs attend these schools. In the 2020–2021 school year, the number of Arab students reached 437,000 (not including kindergartens), some 24% of the total school population in Israel. According to Smooha, “Arab schools suffer from crowded classes a…
Health and Welfare
- The overall fertility rate among Arab women is 2.98 (as of 2019) live births per woman, with significant differences among different geographical regions. The fertility rate for women in the Bedouin community in the Negev (5.26) is almost twice as high as that for Arab women in Northern Israel (2.36 in the Northern district, 2.61 in the Haifa district) and in the Triangle (2.69). …
Crime
- Though Arabs constitute about 21% of Israel’s population, Arab murder of other Arabs accounts for some 70% of all homicides in Israel and has been on the rise. In 2019, 89 Israeli Arabs were murdered, compared with 36 Jews. In 2020, the number rose to 113. In the first nine months of 2021, 95 murders were reported. “Extrapolated to 12 months and divided by the Arab population …
Government Funding Increases
- In April 2018, the Knesset committee for Arab affairs approved a $5.6 million two-year plan for the creation of technology parks within Arab towns in Israel to boost local employment opportunities and close income gaps between Jewish and Arab Israelis. An additional $1.4 million was earmarked to create access roads and transportation to and from these parks. This plan is an ex…
Jerusalem
- Roughly 360,000 Arabs live in Jerusalem, mostly in the eastern part of the city. In 2014, the government adopted a plan to address problems in the predominantly Arab parts of Jerusalem with a budget of more than $80 million. The goal was “to bring about a significant decline in violence by means of integrated activity to reduce gaps in infrastructure, employment, educatio…
Overview
The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic and Hebrew, and with varying social identities. Self-identification as Palestinian citizens of Israel has sharpened in recent years, alongside distinct identities inc…
Legal and political status
Israel's Declaration of Independence called for the establishment of a Jewish state with equality of social and political rights, irrespective of religion, race, or sex.
The rights of citizens are guaranteed by a set of basic laws (Israel does not have a written constitution). Although this set of laws does not explicitly include th…
Terminology
How to refer to the Arab citizenry of Israel is a highly politicized issue, and there are a number of self-identification labels used by members of this community. Generally speaking, supporters of Israel tend to use Israeli Arab or Arab Israeli to refer to this population without mentioning Palestine, while critics of Israel (or supporters of Palestinians) tend to use Palestinian or Palestinian Arab without referencing Israel. According to The New York Times, most preferred t…
History
Most Jewish Israelis refer to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War as the War of Independence, while most Arab citizens refer to it as al-Nakba (the catastrophe), a reflection of differences in perception of the purpose and outcomes of the war.
In the aftermath of the 1947–49 war, the territory previously administered by the British …
Sectarian and religious groupings
In 2006, the official number of Arab residents in Israel – including East Jerusalem and Golan Heights permanent residents many of whom are not citizens – was 1,413,500 people, about 20% of Israel's population. The Arab population in 2019 was estimated at 1,890,000, representing 20.95% of the country's population. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (May 2003), Muslims, including Bedouins, make up 82% of the entire Arab population in Israel, along with aro…
Population
In 2006, the official number of Arab residents in Israel was 1,413,500 people, about 20% of Israel's population. This figure includes 209,000 Arabs (14% of the Israeli Arab population) in East Jerusalem, also counted in the Palestinian statistics, although 98% of East Jerusalem Palestinians have either Israeli residency or Israeli citizenship. In 2012, the official number of Arab residents i…
Politics
There are three mainstream Arab parties in Israel: Hadash (a joint Arab-Jewish party with a large Arab presence), Balad, and the United Arab List, which is a coalition of several different political organizations including the Islamic Movement in Israel. In addition to these, there is Ta'al. All of these parties primarily represent Arab-Israeli and Palestinian interests, and the Islamic Move…
Economic status
In 2011, Nazareth had over 20 Arab-owned high-tech companies, mostly in the field of software development. According to the Haaretz newspaper the city has been called the "Silicon Valley of the Arab community" in view of its potential in this sphere.
Inequality in the allocation of public funding for Jewish and Arab needs, and wi…