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Here’s the Truth About How Israel Treats Its Arab Citizens

A general view picture shows part of Givat Hamatos, an area near eastern Jerusalem, November 15, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun.

The media has reported that Palestinians in the West Bank (85%) and Gaza (52%) support Hamas’ October 7th actions. However, there has been less mention of the attitudes of the almost two million Arab living in Israel and East Jerusalem. More troubling, the little that has been mentioned, gives a false view of their estrangement from the state, ignoring the strong evidence that they are more sympathetic to the current plight of their Jewish neighbors than reported.

Recently, Ragjad Jaraisy and Ofer Dagam, directors of Sikkuy-Aufoq, an Israeli NGO doing constructive work in the Arab sector, pointed to the current risks Arab citizens face. They mentioned systemic discrimination and the repression experienced after the October 7th massacre:

A Palestinian doctor was suspended from his position, Palestinian students at colleges and universities have been punished, and other people have been arrested for social media posts that were often simply misunderstood by those who don’t speak Arabic.

As to the Gaza civilian casualties, they stated that Arab citizens “are connected by family ties, language, culture and history to their fellow Palestinians in Gaza — while living, working and studying side-by-side with Jewish Israelis in the very country that caused their people’s misfortune.” (emphasis added)

Unfortunately, Jaraisy and Dagan projected their mistaken beliefs onto Arab citizens. Survey data demonstrated that the war has brought Arab citizens closer to the Israeli state. For each year, 2016-2022, the share of Arab citizens who felt a part of Israel fluctuated between 39% and 43%. But directly after the Hamas attack, it increased to 70%; and even during November as the death and destruction in Gaza mounted, it only declined to 65%. This positive assessment was largest among Druze respondents (80%), followed by Christians (73%), and Muslims (62%). Indeed, the only subgroup for which it was less than 60% was those who voted for the ultra-nationalist Balad party (43%).

At the eight-week mark of the IDF offensive, a survey indicated that a minority of Arabs held the IDF solely responsible for the harm to Gazan civilians. Among Muslims, 60% held the IDF and Hamas equally responsible with 15.5% holding the IDF solely responsible, compared to 12% who held Hamas solely responsible. This reflected the fact that among Balad supporters, none held Hamas solely responsible but 29% held the IDF solely responsible.  Among Christians and Druze, more than three times as many held Hamas solely responsible as those holding the IDF solely responsible.

Over the next five months, as war continued without an IDF victory or the return of more hostages, attitudes are interesting. An April survey asked, “Who has come off better in the war in Gaza — Israel or Hamas?” More Arab respondents think that Hamas, rather than Israel, has gained the upper hand (20% versus 14%, respectively). One-quarter thought both equally but 41% didn’t know.  Interestingly, the only other group that thought Hamas had gained the upper hand were left-wing Jews (29% to 25.5%).

What Jaraisy and Dagan and others refuse to admit is that substantial improvements in the lives of Arab citizens have led them to be more willing to separate themselves from the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. This is most illustrated by the improving situation of eastern Jerusalem Palestinians.

Mayor Nir Barkat changed decades of benign neglect by beginning to provide some needed reforms and improved services to eastern Jerusalem. Jerusalem’s new mayor, Moshe Lion, accelerated these changes. He began by cleaning up the streets and then improving basic infrastructure: the sidewalks, potholes in the streets, and community gardens. A particularly important improvement was made to the postal system. In 2010, postal services in eastern Jerusalem were barely functioning. A significant portion of the mail did not reach its destination, while much of what did arrive was delivered late. However, Leon added post offices, street signs, and house numbers, substantially improving service.

Arab residents of eastern Jerusalem have seen the benefits. Between 2010 and 2022, the share satisfied with garbage collection increased from 44% to 60%; with fire protection from 42% to 70%; and with ambulance responses from 46% to 59%. More than three-quarters of Arabs are satisfied with healthcare services, sewerage, water, and electricity.

Leon’s efforts also focused on providing an educational system that would prepare students for the matriculation exam (bagrut), required for entrance into Israeli colleges. This required switching away from the Jordanian curriculum that dominated the eastern Jerusalem educational system. No less than 32 educational institutions offering the Israeli system have been established since 2016. The effects on college enrollment have been dramatic. At the Hebrew University alone, 710 Arab students from eastern Jerusalem were studying in 2022, compared with only 36 five years earlier.

Arab women dominated this expansion. Leyla was sitting one morning with two friends in one of the cafés favored by college students. She does not cover her hair, but her two girlfriends were wearing hijabs. All three were studying at an academic college in the city. Asked what she liked the most about her studies, Leyla burst out laughing and said, “That as long as I study, my parents do not pressure me to get married.”

A major focus has been bringing jobs to eastern Jerusalem. The Silicon Wadi project will be one of the biggest public investments ever made in eastern Jerusalem. A total of 200,000 square meters will be devoted to high-tech businesses, 50,000 to hotels, and another 50,000 to commercial space. The project includes increased public transportation, green space, a new technical college for training “thousands of East Jerusalemites in advanced technology,” and incentives to “increase the integration of women in the workforce in the city’s East.”

Jerusalem City Council member Laura Wharton of the left-wing Meretz party said: “The thinking here now is to develop high-tech and other industries that will allow people from East Jerusalem to find employment in Jerusalem.”  These are the reasons why in 2022, more eastern Jerusalem Palestinians preferred Israeli citizenship than living under the control of the Palestinian Authority; more than double the share five years earlier.

While eastern Jerusalem residents, as well as Arab citizens, still face significant obstacles, it is increasingly inaccurate to see them as victims of a repression that is squelching their desires to maintain solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. It is only an unwillingness to appreciate the positive government efforts that perpetuates false narratives.

Robert Cherry is an American Enterprise Institute affiliate and author of Arab Citizens of Israel: How Far They Have Come; How Much Further They Need to Go, to be released fall 2024.

The post Here’s the Truth About How Israel Treats Its Arab Citizens first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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IDF Denies Troops Fired on Civilians After Incidents of Settler Violence

Illustrative. Israeli troops during counterterrorism activity in Tulkarem, northwestern Samaria, September 2024. Photo: IDF.

i24 NewsThe IDF released a statement after an incident during which Israeli soldiers opened fire on Israeli civilians in the West Bank on Saturday night, denying that the trooped fired live ammunition.

This comes at the heels of arson incidents by settlers against Palestinian villages, with clashes breaking out. The IDF said that its soldiers had come under attack on Friday as they entered the area of Kafr Malik, the site of the disturbances, by Israeli civilians. “The undermining of the rule of law and the use of violence by a radical minority harm security and stability in the area.”

The IDF later said that “an initial investigation indicates that IDF forces did not fire live ammunition at Israeli civilians in the area. It should be clarified that the battalion commander’s force operating in the Baal Hatzor area of the Binyamin brigade did not fire live ammunition at all.” On the other hand, the civilians claimed this was false, posting a video that showed shell casings on the ground right next to where the troops were deployed.

Meanwhile, the police requested the remand of six individuals, two of whom are minors, to be extended in connection with the incident.

The IDF later said that, “in another area within the sector, stones were thrown at a military vehicle near the site of the clash by masked individuals from an ambush. The force responded with a warning shot of three bullets.” A possible connection “between this incident and the claim that an Israeli civilian was injured by live fire” is being investigated.

After the incidents late last week, the IDF issued an unusual directive for soldiers to exercise special vigilance and also prepare for scenarios involving nationalist incidents perpetrated by Israeli citizens. The directive was issued after a military vehicle was set on fire inside a Jewish settlement, the tires of an armored David vehicle were punctured, and a community policing caravan near the community of Beit El was also set on fire.

“The security establishment system is highly alert,” a security official told i24NEWS. “We are seeing an escalation on the ground – and if you cannot leave a military vehicle in a Jewish community without it being burned in the sector, it is a sign that the situation is dangerous.”

The post IDF Denies Troops Fired on Civilians After Incidents of Settler Violence first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israel Orders Evacuations in Northern Gaza as Trump Calls for War to End

US President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing-in ceremony of Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, May 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kent Nishimura

The Israeli military ordered Palestinians to evacuate areas in northern Gaza on Sunday before intensified fighting against Hamas, as US President Donald Trump called for an end to the war amid renewed efforts to broker a ceasefire.

“Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform early on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to hold talks later in the day on the progress of Israel’s offensive. A senior security official said the military will tell him the campaign is close to reaching its objectives, and warn that expanding fighting to new areas in Gaza may endanger the remaining Israeli hostages.

But in a statement posted on X and text messages sent to many residents, the military urged people in northern parts of the enclave to head south towards the Al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis, which Israel designated as a humanitarian area. Palestinian and U.N. officials say nowhere in Gaza is safe.

“The (Israeli) Defense Forces is operating with extreme force in these areas, and these military operations will escalate, intensify, and extend westward to the city center to destroy the capabilities of terrorist organizations,” the military said.

The evacuation order covered the Jabalia area and most Gaza City districts. Medics and residents said the Israeli army’s bombardments escalated in the early hours in Jabalia, destroying several houses and killing at least six people.

At Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, relatives arrived to pay their respects to white-shrouded bodies before they are buried.

“A month ago, they (Israel) told us to go to Al-Mawasi (in Khan Younis) and we stayed there for a month, it is a safe zone,” said Zeyad Abu Marouf. He said three of his children were killed and a fourth was wounded in the Israeli airstrike.

“We ask God and the Arabs to move and end this occupation and the injustice taking place against us,” Abu Marouf told Reuters.

NEW CEASEFIRE PUSH

The military escalation comes as Arab mediators, Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, begin a new ceasefire effort to halt the 20-month-old conflict and secure the release of Israeli and foreign hostages still being held by Hamas.

Interest in resolving the Gaza conflict has heightened following US and Israeli bombings of Iran’s nuclear facilities.

There has also been rising concern over how aid is being distributed to Gazans in the ruined enclave. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed over the past month in the vicinity of areas where food was being handed out, local hospitals and officials have said.

A Hamas official told Reuters the group had informed the mediators it was ready to resume ceasefire talks, but reaffirmed the group’s outstanding demands that any deal must end the war and secure an Israeli withdrawal from the coastal territory.

Hamas has said it is willing to free remaining hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive, only in a deal that will end the war. Israel says it can only end the war if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms.

The post Israel Orders Evacuations in Northern Gaza as Trump Calls for War to End first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Russia Launches Largest Drone Attack Yet Against Ukraine, Kills F-16 Pilot

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 10, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

i24 NewsUkraine’s Air Force said that Russia launched 537 drones and missiles against targets throughout Ukraine overnight between Saturday and Sunday, in what what described as the largest attack of the war.

Poland activated aerial defenses and scrambled jets as the six-hour onslaught continued. One Ukrainian F-16 pilot was killed as Kyiv attempted to intercept the missiles and drones, with 475 shot down.

“Tragically, while repelling the attack, our F-16 pilot, Maksym Ustymenko, died. Today, he destroyed seven aerial targets,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“Ustymenko did everything possible, but his jet was damaged and started losing altitude,” the air force said, as quoted in Politico. “He died like a hero!”

The cities of Cherkasy, Lviv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Kyiv were targeted.

The Russia attack came after Ukraine attacked the Kirovske airfield in the Crimean Peninsula, targeting air defenses, drones, and even destroying several helicopters and an air defense system.

The post Russia Launches Largest Drone Attack Yet Against Ukraine, Kills F-16 Pilot first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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