Brainstorming zu neuen Modellen für das Verhältnis von Juden und Arabern in Israel

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Brainstorming session on models for the relationship between Jews and Arabs in Israel

Bettina Malka-Igelbusch

The brainstorming group on models for the relationship between Jews and Arabs in Israel, headed by Dr. Yitzhak Reiter, Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, held its third brainstorming session yesterday (July 26) at the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies. The discussion revolved around different models for coexistence between the Jewish majority and the Arab minority within the State of Israel. Issues were the definition of the Arab minority within the Jewish and democratic state (such as its acceptance as a national minority, or different models of a cultural autonomy), possible changes/ improvements in the attitude towards the Arab minority (e. g. “corrective discrimination” – which is already practiced in some fields by the setting of quota, such as over-representation of Arabs in Israel’s civil service and in the centre of local government, as well as over-representation of Arab students at Israel’s universities) and different options of (re)-defining the definition of the State of Israel in order to integrate its minorities and form a basis of coexistence that both sides can agree to.

One of the possibilities discussed was to strengthen the Israeli identity of the state in relation to the Jewish identity, in order to give the Arab minority the possibility to better identify with the state. This however, has many implications, some of them so far unacceptable for a majority of the Jewish population. The diversity of opinions within the group of experts participating in yesterday’s discussion shows how disputed this issue is (which is true for both the Jewish and the Arab sides) and how long the road will be to reach an understanding between the two sides.