פרסומים – מכון ירושלים למחקרי מדיניות

Summary

Publication Year: 2011

Authors:

The founders of Israel had a vision of a state that would fulfill the right of the Jewish people to self-determination and grant full equality to the Arab minority who remained after the conclusion of the 1948 war. Overshadowed by the regional confrontation facing Israel, the state has deviated from its founders’ vision. The circumstances of Israel’s establishment galvanized its national Jewish character at the expense of a collective sense of citizenship and social cohesiveness throughout the population. The ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict also reinforced social polarization and rising tensions between Jews and Arabs, tensions that in recent years have been straining the social fabric of the country. This research proposes a new conceptual framework for Jewish-Arab relations within Israel, based on a perspective of inclusive citizenship. The group’s members are of the opinion that internal majority-minority relations cannot be postponed until a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is found.

Introduction

The circumstances of Israel’s establishment, which forced it to confront existential challenges from the start, galvanized its national Jewish character at the expense of a collective sense of citizenship and social cohesiveness throughout the population. The ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict reinforced societal polarization and rising tensions between Jews and Arabs, tensions that in recent years have been straining the social fabric of the country. The Orr Commission, which investigated the root causes of the clashes that erupted in October 2000, found that Israel’s various governments have consistently failed in their policies towards the Arab citizens of Israel.

At the same time the Commission also underscored the responsibility of the political leadership and elite of the Arab minority for the state of relations between Jews and Arabs. The Commission’s recommendations, however, remain largely unheeded. The leadership and governing institutions still lack clear goals and a strategy to address this issue.

The discussion that has taken place over recent years have led us to propose a new conceptual framework for Jewish-Arab relations within Israel. The group members’ opinion are that internal majority-minority relations cannot be postponed until a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is found. Ethno-national intergroup tensions in the context of a protracted violent conflict tend to hurt all citizens, members of the national majority and national minority as one.

Recommendations

Our recommendations are primarily relevant to matters for which the Israeli government and the Jewish-Israeli public are responsible. At the same time we believe that the political leadership of the Arab minority also bears responsibility for the difficult state of relations between the two peoples and for enforcement of the law. Moreover, within Israeli public discourse we see an increase in words of enmity and de-legitimization on national grounds between Jews and Arabs, including incitement to break the law. We firmly believe that this destructive trend must be stopped, thoroughly uprooted, and addressed using the force of law.

Download PDF