Arab Society in Israel Program

This is a joint program of the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for Shared Society and the Center for Democratic Values and Institutions.

IDI's program on Arab society aims at mitigating the tensions between Israel's Jewish majority and its Arab minority and create a shared, inclusive society. The program seeks to address the social, cultural, economic and legal barriers to the integration of Israel's Arab citizens into Israeli society and its economy. On the basis of its in-depth research, the program team devises and promotes policy recommendations, and works closely with government decision-makers to ensure their adoption and implementation.

Among other initiatives, the program publishes an Annual Statistical Report which provides comprehensive and detailed data on the situation of the Arab Israeli population in a broad range of life arenas, along with an in-depth survey of the relationship between Arab and Jewish citizens, and focuses on issues such as developing a model of shared workspaces for Israeli employers, advancing the inclusion of Arab citizens in government decision-making, and upgrading the quality of employment among Arab workers. The program team organizes forums for dialogue and debate between Jews and Arabs, and Arabs and state institutions.

  • Default Image

    Dr. Khader Sawaed

    Head

    Read More

    [email protected]

    Khader Sawaed is the head of the Arab Society Program in Israel at the Israel Democracy Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Haifa, where his dissertation examined the impact of stateness components on democratization processes, focusing on Egypt and Tunisia after the Arab Spring.

    In the past, he served as a Research Fellow at the Mitvim Institute, a Neubauer Doctoral Fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), and a Visiting Researcher at the Leonard Davis Institute at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 2017, he was awarded the Chaim Herzog Prize for Middle East Studies and Diplomacy by Ben-Gurion University.

    Alongside his research career, Sawaed taught civics for 22 years, served as a pedagogical instructor, and held the position of middle school principal for four years. He is a graduate of the Avney Rosha Institute for School Leadership.

  • Default Image

    Dr. Fahima Abbas

    Senior Researcher

    Read More

    [email protected]

    Dr. Abbas received her PhD in Geography from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2016. Her research focuses on the integration of the minority middle class into majority urban spaces, with an emphasis on metropolitan areas and divided cities, spatial inequality, migration, and commuting. As part of her postdoctoral research at the Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, she examined the participation of the Jerusalem middle class in the Israeli economy. In her recent studies, Dr. Abbas explored access to housing and employment among Palestinian women in Israel, analyzing how residential space, social class, and marital status influence their opportunities for housing and employment.

  • Default Image

    Dr. Ofir Hadad

    Researcher

    Read More

    [email protected]

    Dr. Ofir Hadad is a postdoctoral fellow at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, where he also coordinates programs for research students from diverse populations, and he teaches in the Department of Political Science and in the Conflict Research, Management and Resolution program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

  • Default Image

    Dr. Muhammed Khalaily

    Researcher

    Read More

    [email protected]

    Holds a PhD from the School of Political Science at the University of Haifa on the subject: "The role and survival of primordial structures in modern politics: A Neo-Institutional Analysis of Clan Continuity in Arab Politics in Israel".

  • Default Image

    Dr. Arik Rudnitzky

    Researcher

    Read More

    [email protected]

    Dr. Rudnitzky has been researching Arab Israeli issues for almost two decades. His fields of expertise cover political, national and social developments in Israel's Arab society; Jewish-Arab relations; and government policies on Arabs in Israel.

    Rudnitzky holds PhD degree from the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at Bar-Ilan University, as well as MA (magna cum laude) and BA degrees in Middle Eastern History from the Faculty of Humanities and an MBA degree from the Faculty of Management, Tel Aviv University.

  • Default Image

    Duna Ghanayem

    Research Assistant

    Read More

    [email protected]

  • Default Image

    Mirvat Abu Hadoba-Frieh

    Researcher, Project of Community Safety in the City of Rahat

    Read More

    [email protected]

    Mirvat Abu Hadoba-Frieh is a researcher and Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Politics and Government at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Her research focuses on political awareness among national minorities, with particular emphasis on Arab society in Israel and the Kurdish minority in Turkey.

Few stories illustrate the unfeeling and aggressive attitude of the Israeli government toward the Arab-Bedouin population of the Negev as well as the case of Atir-Umm al-Hiran. In this op-ed, which was first published by JTA, Eli Bahar and Thabet Abu Ras of the Abraham Fund discuss Israel's obligations toward its minority citizens.

The integration of talented Arab employees into Israel’s hi-tech sector could relieve the human-resources shortage for employers. Encouraging Arabs to enter the hi-tech industry could improve their economic situation significantly, which would reduce inequality and contribute to a reduction of social tensions in the Arab community.

Following the publication of the Poverty Report, Dr. Sami Miaari points out the large percentage of Arab Israelis that live in poverty. He says the current situation requires a new strategy and economic investment on several levels simultaneously. This article first appeared on Times of Israel.

Arab elected officials have disappointed the public time after time with their lack of professionalism in how they lead their constituents toward political change. (This article was originally published by the Jerusalem Post.)

Nasreen Hadad Haj-Yahya and Eli Bahar say the biggest difference between the security situations in 2000 and now is the profound lack of understanding between the two sides. This article was first published on the Times of Israel website.

Eli Bahar says we must not accept this state of affairs as a fait accompli. He reminds that we can change the situation even if it seems that it has almost reached the point of no return.

Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer explains the importance of the fifth meeting of IDI's Police and Society Forum, which was dedicated to the question of partnership and transparency in the relationship between the Israel Police and Arab society.

Should the State always present its position in a unified voice or should state institutions with specific expertise sometimes be allowed to present their views separately? Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer and Attorney Talya Steiner address this question In an op-ed in Haaretz.

Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer and Attorney Talya Steiner warn that the proposed veterans benefits bill, which would give preferential treatment in employment, higher education, and housing to those who have served in the Israeli army, gives license to discriminate against Israel's Arab minority.