Over 50% of Arab-Israelis feel closer affinity with Jewish-Israelis after October 7 attack

A new survey published on Wednesday reveals that a majority of Arab-Israelis, 57.8%, feel a closer affinity with the Jewish Israeli majority population. The survey was conducted by the Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation at Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Dayan Center.

If correct, the survey indicates a growing sense among Arab Israelis that they have a shared destiny with Jewish Israelis. Furthermore, this trend appears to have intensified since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre of over 1,200 Israelis, including Arab and Muslim Israelis.

In June 51.5% of Arab Israelis held this view and in November 2023 a whopping 69.8% of Arab Israelis believed that the October 7 attack had undermined the societal bonds between Arab Israelis and Jewish Israelis. 

Dr. Arik Rudnitzky, the project manager for the Jewish-Arab Cooperation program, believes that the ongoing war has brought the Arab-Israeli minority closer to the Jewish-Israeli majority. 

"It appears, however, that under the dark shadow cast by the war over all citizens of Israel, both Arabs and Jews, meaningful bright spots are emerging that could redefine the rules of the game in the post-war era," Rudnitzky assessed.

"The upheavals and turbulence in the Middle East in recent months...have boosted the Arab citizens' appreciation for their Israeli citizenship," Rudnitzky argued, adding that this changed reality has shaped a "sense of shared destiny" between Arabs and Jews in Israel.

A majority of Arab Israelis appear to embrace a growing integration into mainstream Israeli society, but the reality is complex.

While over half of Arab Israelis reported feeling a closer affinity with Jewish Israelis, only 17.4% of them reportedly felt that their connection to the State of Israel had strengthened as a result of the war.

On the other hand, the report revealed that Israeli citizenship has emerged as the most important component of the complex Arab Israeli identity. Some 33.9% of Arab Israelis said their Israeli identity was the most important component while only 9% view their Palestinian-Arab identity as the most important aspect of their complex identity. Furthermore, 29.2% of Arab Israelis prioritize their religious identity over their national and ethnic identity. 

Numbering around two million people, Arab Israelis consisting of Muslims, Christians and Arabic-speaking Druze, constitute around 20% of Israel’s total population. 

Druze Israeli and Bedouin Israeli IDF soldiers have played a crucial role in defending the Jewish state against the Iranian-backed terrorist militias Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. 

While military service is compulsory for most Jewish Israelis, most Arab Israelis currently do not serve in the IDF. In September, the Muslim IDF officer Hisham Abu Raya reported that Arab Israelis are increasingly joining the IDF voluntarily due to their growing affiliation with the Jewish state. 

Raya assessed that a growing number of Arab Israelis realize that Hamas does not distinguish between Arab Israelis and Jewish Israelis. 

“On October 7, the penny dropped among Arab-Israelis. They saw that Hamas opened fire on everyone, and did not distinguish between Jewish and Muslim citizens,” he said.

“And there are still Muslim hostages in the hands of Hamas. It was the same during the 2006 Second Lebanon War – nearly half of the civilian victims in Israel were Arabs. Rockets don’t distinguish between Moshe and Ali,” Raya argued.