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Only 7% of Israeli Arabs define themselves as “Palestinians”

Apr 21, 2020
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According to preliminary data from the Jewish People Policy Institute’s (JPPI) forthcoming Diversity Index for 2020, there has been a significant change in recent years in how Israeli Arabs identify themselves.

According to a study conducted by Professor Camille Fuchs at Tel Aviv University, about a quarter (23%) of Arabs define themselves primarily as “Israelis”. This is a sharp increase compared to last year, when only 5% answered the same. More than half (51%) identify themselves as “Israeli-Arab”.

Over 20%, almost two million of Israel’s residents are Arabs.

At the same time, the proportion of non-Jewish residents who primarily define themselves as “Palestinians” has dropped significantly from 18% last year to 7% this year, writes the Jerusalem Post.

Other studies also show the same trend, namely that fewer and fewer Arabs in Israel define themselves as “Palestinians”.

Shmuel Rosner is one of those working on the study, he says there has been a significant change in how Israeli Arabs define themselves in the past year. Rosner believes the recent Knesset elections have affected the way Arabs in Israel view themselves. The turnout of Israeli Arabs has been record high and there has been widespread debate about the participation of Israeli Arabs in the political arena and in Israeli society.

The survey also shows that most Arabs feel “like real Israelis”.

The president of the Jewish People’s Policy Institute, Avinoam Bar-Yosef, on the other hand, believes that it is not primarily the increased turnout, but the Corona crisis that has changed the way Israeli Arabs identify themselves. He points out that many Arabs work in the health sector in Israel and that the fight against Corona has created a greater sense of partnership between the Jewish and the Arab communities in the country.

Read also MIFF’s article: What Arabs and Jews think about each other in Israel.

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