A renewed call for Jewish-Arab coexistence in Israel

Amid the maelstrom of violent conflict between Israel and Hamas in recent days, we also have seen shining moments of Israeli Jews and Arabs rallying together to assert their common humanity and refuse to give in to fear and hate.

On the Hemed bridge overlooking the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, Jews and Israeli Arabs stood together two weeks ago with banners proclaiming their commitment to one another. Similar manifestations of brotherhood occurred at the Nahalal junction in Galilee, at Habima Square in Tel Aviv and in Jerusalem, where hundreds gathered under the banner of the Yad be Yad (Hand in Hand) organization. In Afula, Jewish and Arab doctors at the Emek Medical Center emerged from their operating rooms to sing “Peace Will Come” in Hebrew and Arabic.

These were inspirational expressions of the human spirit at its finest. But they cannot delude us about the enormous damage sustained to the cause of Jewish-Arab coexistence.

While Israelis tragically have acclimatized over the years to Hamas missile barrages on their cities, almost no one was prepared for the explosion of violent rage between Jewish and Arab Israeli citizens. In the mixed city of Lod, Arabs burned stores and synagogues, triggering copycat attacks in Akko, Tamra and other towns. Equally horrifying was the mob violence by Jews against Arabs in Bat Yam, Tiberias and elsewhere.

US President Joe Biden and other world powers rightly prioritized a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas to protect the sanctity of innocent civilians on both sides. But ending the cycle of anger and distrust that pit neighbor against neighbor in towns and cities across Israel is just as important.

Clearly, a huge amount is required to reinstate the belief in Israeli Arabs and Jews alike that coexistence between the two communities is achievable. The responsibility for this effort rests solely with Jews and Arabs themselves.

I am optimistic, and not only because I have spent much of the last decade-and-a-half campaigning for greater Jewish-Arab and Jewish-Muslim partnership, a period in which these concepts morphed from the lofty aspirational to the Abraham Accords breakthroughs last year. I see the seeds of reconciliation in an Israeli society that can help more Arabs prosper.

The large turnout of Israeli Arabs alongside Jews at pro-peace events in recent days is a demonstration of their increased integration into Israeli society. More Israeli Arabs are receiving higher education than ever, and a burgeoning Arab Israeli middle class is emerging. Israeli Arabs are prospering in fields as diverse as medicine to owning their own businesses in construction and trucking.

Now numbering more than 1.9 million citizens, or more than a fifth of the Israeli population, Arab Israelis are wielding greater political power. Since the most recent inconclusive Israeli elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and the opposition coalition have explored alliances with the United Arab List, potentially bringing the party into the government.

Much focus is on Israeli Arab grievances, and I do not mean to diminish them. Too little has been said about their unprecedented opportunities right now.

Israeli Arabs, full citizens of the State of Israel, economically integrated and fluent in Hebrew as well as Arabic could and should serve as the bridge between Israel and the Arab world. The Abraham Accords involving Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain offer tantalizing prospects in this regard.

Adel Badi, mayor of the Israeli Arab town of Kafr Kassem, recently visited Dubai, meeting with Emirati investors and speaking on a panel about building an Israeli-Arab incubator and industrial zone for budding technology companies. “As Arabs in Israel,” Badi told Foreign Policy magazine, “we’ve always been a bridge to encourage peace between Israelis and Palestinians. We are happy to play that role now with Arab countries.”

We need to empower these positive impulses, but also to reestablish the foundational tenets of Jewish-Arab coexistence.

In Israel, myriad coexistence organizations exist. The New Israel Fund, the Peres Center for Peace, Givat Haviva’s Jewish-Arab Center for Peace and Bat Shalom are among the better-known examples, and are primarily the initiative of Israeli Jews. My organization based in New York, the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, has long sponsored the work in Israel of the Interfaith Encounter Association led by Yehuda Stolov.

But important Arab Israeli organizations have sprouted at grassroots levels, too. Worth noting are the Arab-Jewish Community Center in Jaffa, cofounded by Ibrahim Abu Shindi; the Sir Charles Clore Jewish-Arab Community Centre in Acre led by Mohammed Fahili; A New Dawn in the Negev founded by Jamal Alkirnawi; and the Adam Center for Interreligious Dialogue.

Together, Israeli Jews and Arabs must not only condemn violence. They need to build on the peace and reconciliation demonstrations to fulfill the vision of a shared and resplendent Israeli polity. Together, they can ensure a Jewish state with full equality for all of its citizens.

As I have stated on many occasions, a people who fight for their own rights are only as honorable as their fight for the rights of all people.

Israeli Jews and Arabs alike must fight for all Israelis to live in peace and security. The two communities are interdependent and cannot survive without the other. They share a common faith and a common fate. I pray both Arabs and Jews will realize these truths and act on them – for Israel’s sake and their own.