The author believes that the time has come to reexamine the relationship between Arabs and Jews in the State of Israel, to look at the ways in which Israel’s Arabs define themselves, and to ask whether the equality of which Ben-Gurion spoke has already been achieved. The author claims that Israeli democracy has been forced to cope with the delicate task of preserving the rights of non-Jewish minorities (some 24% of the population), without compromising Israel’s definition as a “Jewish State.” Israeli Arabs are similarly divided in their identity – some define themselves as Palestinian, some as Israeli, and some as Israeli Arabs.
Schafferman, Karin Tamar