Publication

Palestinian-Arab citizens of Israel in 2010 number about one and a quarter million, 16.5 percent of Israel’s population. Fear is widespread that the Palestinization, Islamization, and growing relative deprivation of the Arabs—along with the drift to the right of the Jews and growing intergroup inequality in the wake of globalization—are driving Arabs and Jews apart and leading to an inevitable and violent confrontation that will have only adverse effects on any Israeli-Palestinian peace. This apprehension is supported by the steady deterioration in Arab-Jewish relations since the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in November 1995. This report, however, poses a counter-thesis, emphasizing a mutual rapprochement between the two sides that prevents confrontation and violence.