The
Or Commission, set up to explain the
October 2000 unrest in many Israeli Arab communities found,
"The state and generations of its government failed in a lack of comprehensive and deep handling of the serious problems created by the existence of a large Arab minority inside the Jewish state.
Government handling of the Arab sector has been primarily neglectful and discriminatory. The establishment
did not show sufficient sensitivity to the needs of the Arab population, and
did not take enough action in order to allocate state resources in an equal manner. The state
did not do enough or try hard enough to create equality for its Arab citizens or to uproot discriminatory or unjust phenomenon."
According to the 2004 U.S. State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for Israel and the Occupied Territories, the Israeli government
had done "little to reduce institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against the country's Arab citizens." The 2005
US Department of State report on Israel wrote: "The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were problems in some areas, including...
institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against the country’s Arab citizens." The 2010 U.S. State Department Country Report stated that Israeli law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, and that government effectively enforced these prohibitions. Former
Likud MK and Minister of Defense
Moshe Arens has criticized the
treatment of minorities in Israel, saying that they did not bear the full obligation of Israeli citizenship, nor were they extended the full privileges of citizenship.
Politics
Arab political parties
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 Movement is an
Islamist organization with two factions: one that opposes Israel's existence, and another that opposes its existence as a Jewish state. Two Arab parties ran in Israel's
first election in 1949, with one, the
Democratic List of Nazareth, winning two seats. Until the 1960s all Arab parties in the Knesset were aligned with
Mapai, the ruling party.
A minority of Arabs join and vote for
Zionist parties; in the
2006 elections 30% of the Arab vote went to such parties, up from 25% in
2003,
[126] though down on the
1999 (30.5%) and
1996 elections (33.4%).
[127] Left-wing parties (i.e.
Labor Party and
Meretz-Yachad, and previously
One Nation) are the most popular parties amongst Arabs, though some Druze have also voted for right-wing parties such as
Likud and
Yisrael Beiteinu, as well as the centrist
Kadima.
[128][129]
Arab-dominated parties typically do not join governing coalitions. However, historically these parties have formed alliances with dovish Israeli parties and promoted the formation of their governments by voting with them from the opposition. Arab parties are credited with keeping Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin in power, and they have suggested they would do the same for a government led by Labor leader
Isaac Herzog and peace negotiator
Tzipi Livni.
[130][131] A 2015
Haaretz poll found that a majority of Israeli Arabs would like their parties, then running on a
joint list, to join the governing coalition.
[132]
Representation in the Knesset
Ahmad Tibi, leader of the Arab party Ta'al currently serves as Deputy Speaker of the Knesset
Palestinian Arabs sat in the state's
first parliamentary assembly; as of 2011, 13 of the 120 members of the
Israeli Parliament are Arab citizens, most representing Arab political parties, and one of Israel's
Supreme Court judges is a Palestinian Arab.
[133]
As of 2015, there are 17 Arab members of knesset. Along with 13 out of the 14 members of the Joint List, there will be four Arab parliamentarians representing Zionist parties, which is double their number in the previous Knesset.
[134]
Some Arab Members of the Knesset, past and present, are under police investigation for their visits to countries designated as enemy countries by Israeli law. This law was amended following MK Mohammad Barakeh's trip to Syria in 2001, such that MKs must explicitly request permission to visit these countries from the Minister of the Interior. In August 2006, Balad MKs
Azmi Bishara,
Jamal Zahalka, and
Wasil Taha visited
Syria without requesting nor receiving such permission, and a criminal investigation of their actions was launched. Former Arab Member of Knesset
Mohammed Miari was questioned 18 September 2006 by police on suspicion of having entered a designated enemy country without official permission. He was questioned "under caution" for 2.5 hours in the
Petah Tikva station about his recent visit to Syria. Another former Arab Member of Knesset,
Muhammad Kanaan, was also summoned for police questioning regarding the same trip.
[135] In 2010, six Arab MKs visited
Libya, an openly anti-Zionist Arab state, and met with
Muammar al-Gaddafi and various senior government officials. Gaddafi urged them to seek a
one-state solution, and for Arabs to "multiply" in order to counter any "plots" to expel them.
[136]
According to a study commissioned by the Arab Association of Human Rights entitled "Silencing Dissent," over the past three years, eight of nine of these Arab Knesset members have been beaten by Israeli forces during demonstrations.
[137] Most recently according to the report, legislation has been passed, including three election laws [e.g., banning political parties], and two Knesset related laws aimed to "significantly curb the minority [Arab population] right to choose a public representative and for those representatives to develop independent political platforms and carry out their duties".
[138]
Representation in the civil service sphere
In the public employment sphere, by the end of 2002, 6.1% of 56,362 Israeli civil servants were Arab.
[139] In January 2004, Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon declared that every state-run company must have at least one Arab citizen of Israel on its board of directors.
[140]
Representation in political, judicial and military positions
Arab Israeli
Captain Amos Yarkoni, born Abd el-Majid Hidr.
Raleb Majadele, the first non-Druze Arab minister in Israel's history
Cabinet: Nawaf Massalha, an Arab Muslim, has served in various junior ministerial roles, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, since 1999.
[141] Until 2001, no Arab had been included in a Prime Minister's cabinet, or invited to join any political coalition. In 2001, this changed, when
Salah Tarif, a Druze Arab citizen of Israel, was appointed a member of Sharon's cabinet without a portfolio. Tarif was later ejected after being convicted of corruption.
[142] In 2007 the first non-Druze Arab minister in Israel's history,
Raleb Majadele, was appointed a minister without portfolio, and a month later appointed minister for Science, Culture and Sport.
[55][143] The appointment of Majadele was criticized by far-right Israelis, some of whom are also within the Cabinet, but this drew condemnation across the mainstream Israeli political spectrum.
[56][144] Meanwhile, Arab lawmakers called the appointment an attempt to "whitewash Israel's discriminatory policies against its Arab minority".
[145][146]
Knesset: Arab citizens of Israel have been
elected to every Knesset, and
currently hold 17 of its 120 seats. The first female Arab MP was
Hussniya Jabara, a Muslim Arab from central Israel, who was elected in 1999.
[147]
Supreme Court: Abdel Rahman Zuabi, a Muslim from northern Israel, was the first Arab on the Israeli Supreme Court, serving a 9-month term in 1999. In 2004,
Salim Joubran, a Christian Arab from
Haifa descended from Lebanese Maronites, became the first Arab to hold a permanent appointment on the Court. Joubran's expertise lies in the field of
criminal law.
[148] George Karra, a Christian Arab from
Jaffa has served as a Tel Aviv District Court judge since 2000. He was the presiding judge in the trial of
Moshe Katsav. In 2011, he was nominated as a candidate for the
Israeli Supreme Court.
[149]
Foreign Service: Ali Yahya, an Arab Muslim, became the first Arab ambassador for Israel in 1995 when he was appointed ambassador to
Finland. He served until 1999, and in 2006 was appointed ambassador to
Greece. Other Arab ambassadors include
Walid Mansour, a Druze, appointed ambassador to
Vietnam in 1999, and
Reda Mansour, also a Druze, a former ambassador to
Ecuador.
Mohammed Masarwa, an Arab Muslim, was Consul-General in
Atlanta. In 2006,
Ishmael Khaldi was appointed Israeli consul in San Francisco, becoming the first Bedouin consul of the State of Israel.
[150]
Israel Defense Forces: Arab Generals in the IDF include Major General Hussain Fares, commander of Israel's border police, and Major General
Yosef Mishlav, head of the
Home Front Command and current
Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.[
citation needed] Both are members of the
Druze community. Other high-ranking officers in the IDF include Lieutenant Colonel
Amos Yarkoni (born Abd el-Majid Hidr/ عبد الماجد حيدر) from the Bedouin community, a legendary officer in the Israel Defense Forces and one of six Israeli Arabs to have received the IDF's third highest decoration, the
Medal of Distinguished Service.
Israeli Police: In 2011, Jamal Hakroush became the first Muslim Arab deputy Inspector-General in the
Israeli Police. He has previously served as district commander of two districts.
[151]
Jewish National Fund: In 2007, Ra'adi Sfori became the first Arab citizen of Israel to be elected as a JNF director, over a petition against his appointment. The court upheld the JNF's appointment, explaining, "As this is one director among a large number, there is no chance he will have the opportunity to cancel the organization's goals."
[152]
Other political organizations and movements
Abna el-Balad
Abnaa el-Balad[153] is a political movement that grew out of organizing by Arab university youth, beginning in 1969.
[154][155] It is not affiliated with the Arab Knesset party Balad. While participating in municipal elections, Abnaa al-Balad firmly reject any participation in the Israeli Knesset. Political demands include " the return of all Palestinian refugees to their homes and lands, [an] end [to] the Israeli occupation and Zionist apartheid and the establishment [of] a democratic secular state in Palestine as the ultimate solution to the Arab-Zionist conflict."
[156]
High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel
The
High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel is an extra-parliamentary umbrella organization that represents Arab citizens of Israel at the national level.
[157] It is "the top representative body deliberating matters of general concern to the entire Arab community and making binding decisions."
[158] While it enjoys
de facto recognition from the
State of Israel, it lacks official or
de jure recognition from the state for its activities in this capacity.
[157]
Ta'ayush
Ta'ayush is "a grassroots movement of Arabs and Jews working to break down the walls of racism and segregation by constructing a true Arab-Jewish partnership."
[159]
Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages
The
Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages is a body of unofficial representatives of the
unrecognized villages throughout the
Negev region in the south.
Attempts to ban Arab political parties
Amendment 9 to the 'Basic Law: The Knesset and the Law of Political Parties', states that a political party "may not participate in the elections if there is in its goals or actions a denial of the existence of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people, a denial of the democratic nature of the state, or incitement to racism."
[160][161] A number of attempts were done to disqualify Arab parties based on this rule, however as of 2010, all such attempts were either rejected by the Israeli Central Elections Committee or overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court.
Progressive List for Peace
An
Israeli Central Elections Committee ruling which allowed the
Progressive List for Peace to run for the Knesset in 1988 was challenged based on this amendment, but the committee's decision was upheld by the Israeli Supreme Court, which ruled that the PLP's platform calling for Israel to become "a state of all its citizens" does not violate the ideology of Israel as the State of the Jewish people, and thus section 7(a) does not apply.
[162]
Balad
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"
[163] and making statements promoting armed struggle against it. The Supreme Court overruled the decision in January 2003.
[164] 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".
[165] 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.
[166]
United Arab List – Ta'al and Balad
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.
[167] The
Supreme Court of Israel overturned the Committee's decision by a majority of eight to one.
[168]
Arab citizens of Israel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ofcourse treatment in minorities can always get better in any country
The goverment just approved 15 billion NIS for promoting the muslims population
Israel okays $4 billion upgrade plan for Arab communities | The Times of Israel
