American Jews should pay attention to Arab Israelis

Moment Magazine
August/September, 2007
By NATHAN GUTTMAN

In the aftermath of the war in Lebanon, it’s essential for Jews—in the United States and Israel—to pay attention to the needs of Israeli Arabs. It may be the best way to keep Israel a Jewish state.

Whom do we support when we support Israel? Who are the people behind the placards reading "We stand by Israel" posted on the walls of synagogues and community centers?

For most American Jews, the image that comes to mind when writing a check for an annual campaign, attending a rally or embarking on a mission to the Holy Land is of an Israeli Jew. It can be a sabra or a newcomer, a blond immigrant from the former Soviet Union or a dark-eyed Jew from Ethiopia. Young, old, orthodox or secular, one thing is certain—it is almost never the image of an Israeli Arab.

The 1.2 million Arab citizens of Israel, a fifth of the Jewish state’s population, are a great unknown for most American Jews, who focus their interest and concern on the Jews of the Jewish state. Ignoring Israel’s Arab population has been the prevailing approach for the better part of the past 60 years. Yet Arab Israelis attend Israeli universities and are cared for in Israeli hospitals. There is one Arab Cabinet minister (the first in history), and 12 Arabs currently serve in the Knesset. Some Jews have seen Arab Israelis as an enemy from within or a potential risk. But most Jews have preferred to simply ignore them.

Recent events, however, make it increasingly difficult to keep turning a blind eye to the Arabs of the Jewish state. The October 2000 riots in the Galilee made it clear that discontent is brewing within the Arab minority, fed by years of neglect by Israeli governments and a growing sensitivity to the plight of their Palestinian brothers living on the other side of the Green Line.

Last summer’s war in Lebanon brought home another truth: Israeli Arabs are just as vulnerable as Israeli Jews to attacks by the country’s enemies. And sometimes, as the large proportion of Arab casualties suggests, even more vulnerable than their Jewish neighbors.

The New Israel Fund, with its vast U.S. operation, was among the first to understand the need to draw American Jewish attention to the issue of Israeli Arabs and to work out ways to harness the goodwill and resources of the community to help Israel’s Arab minority.

But it was the formation of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arabs two years ago that brought some 70 mainstream Jewish organizations in the United States together to discuss how Jewish Americans can get actively involved in building bridges to Arab citizens of Israel. The task force has a small budget, less than half a million dollars a year, focusing on advocacy and raising awareness by working with groups that support civic equality and stronger Jewish-Arab relations.

The creation of the task force and the conferences it held not only brought more attention to the issue of Israeli Arabs, it also reflected the beginning of a changed perception within the Jewish community—from showing concern for the Jewish state to seeking to benefit the entire state of Israel.

The first challenge facing this new perception was fairly simple: The severe hit taken by the Arab population during the Lebanon war led the communal philanthropy system to funnel funds from its Israel Emergency Campaign to the aid of Arab towns affected by the Hezbollah attacks. While drawing some criticism from right-wing groups, the mainstream Jewish community took pride in supporting Israeli Arabs as well as Jews who had suffered from the war.

Groups of Arab-Israeli scholars have published a series of research papers over the past six months in which they critically review the way Arabs are integrated into the state and explore how to improve their standing as a minority. The lion’s share of the research deals with ways to overcome government-sanctioned discrimination in education, housing, municipal services and representation. The main document is the "Future Vision" report by the National Committee of the Heads of Arab Local Authorities, a group of local Arab leaders and scholars representing all sectors in the Arab society.

But what really caught the public’s attention were ideas posed regarding future relations between Israel’s Jewish majority and its Arab minority. Some of the recommendations were far-reaching, essentially calling for Israel to change its basic definition from a Jewish state to a state whose citizens relinquish many of its Jewish symbols.

Israeli Jewish reaction to the document was, naturally, one of surprise and dismay. The idea of Israel as a Jewish state is a fundamental notion enjoying wall-to-wall support in Israel and, while most Israelis can't agree on anything from politics to economy to religion, there is a nearly universal consensus on the idea of living in a country which is Jewish by definition.

The proposal reignited debate over the need for linking the concerns between the Jewish Diaspora and the Israeli Arab minority. After all, if they don’t want Israel to be a Jewish state, what possible dialogue can American Jewry have with Israeli Arabs?

This dilemma can be resolved. American Jews have always been in the forefront of the battle for minority rights and equality, and what is true for ethnic groups in America can probably be applied to the Arab minority in Israel. There is plenty of room for Jewish Americans to work on promoting equality in the country they care so deeply about.

Engaging in dialogue doesn’t mean accepting the Arab view of Israel’s future. On the contrary, by opening a dialogue with Israeli Arabs, the Jews of America can sustain their view of Israel as a home for all Jewish people. Diaspora Jewry can strengthen claims for maintaining the country as a Jewish state. But it can also help the Arab minority feel more welcome there, by fighting for their rights and equality, even working to correct the wrongdoings of the Israeli government. Jews can work with Israeli Arabs to understand their needs and show them how they can benefit by being a part of the Israeli community.

Nathan Guttman is a reporter for The Forward.