Israeli Arab

Israeli Arabs are Arabs who remained inside the borders of what would become Israel, when many either fled or were expelled from the area (see Nakba) during and immediately after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. They make up 19% of Israel's population (2003). They sometimes consider themselves Palestinian, sometimes Israeli, and sometimes both. They are sometimes taken to include Druze and Circassians, and sometimes taken to exclude them; within Israeli Arabs, the Bedouin form a distinct subgroup, as do the Israeli Arab Christians. Well-known Israeli Arabs include the politician and novelist Emile Habibi, the film director Elie Suleiman and the politician Azmi Bishara.

Related Topics:
Arab - Israel - Nakba - 1948 Arab-Israeli War - 2003 - Palestinian - Israeli - Druze - Circassians - Bedouin - Israeli Arab Christian - Emile Habibi - Elie Suleiman - Azmi Bishara

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Israeli Arabs are considered to be full citizens of the State of Israel. There are a number of Israeli Arabs sitting as members of the Knesset (Parliament), and an Arab Justice presides in the Supreme Court. To some extent Israeli Arabs face discrimination as individuals, in part as a result of inequality in the allocation of governmental resources. The same government, however, also adopted affirmative action policies in recruiting Israeli Arabs to the civil service.

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Apart from the Druze and Circassians, they are not required to serve in the IDF, although some, notably among the Bedouin, do so.

Related Topics:
Druze - Circassians - IDF - Bedouin

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Some of them became internal refugees in 1948 (see Palestinian refugees.)

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Arabic is considered an official language in Israel for use by the Arab minority.

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Israel also has a large population of traditionally Arabic-speaking Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews, though these are not usually identified as Arabs.

Related Topics:
Sephardi - Mizrahi

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