Few Israeli Jews really are really aware of the political views of their Arab counterparts. Now, six months after the formation of the new government, a comprehensive, 14-page academic survey has placed a finger on the pulse of Israeli Arabs. 

The survey was conducted by the Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation, which operates in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University (TAU). 

Dr. Arik Rudnitzky, manager of the Adenauer Program, said: “The new study illustrates the upheavals in Arab society that, on the one hand wants to increase integration in Israeli society and be a significant factor in the coalition and in the government and, on the other hand, expresses distrust in the government and in its ability to change reality and improve the well-being of the Arab citizens.”

The survey was carried out by the Yafa Institute-Market Research, Surveys and Consulting, under the direction of Dr. Aas Atrash. The sample size was 511, with the sample error ±5 percent.

The data were collected during the period November 7–14, 2021 in a telephone survey carried out in Arabic among a representative sample of the adult Arab population (aged 18+).

A majority (56.2%) of the Arab public believes that the Ra’am Arab political party, which is for the first time a member of the coalition of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, should seek a ministerial or deputy-ministerial position in the government. They also have a very low level of trust toward implementation of the government plan for the fight against crime in Arab towns and villages (2.13 on a scale of 1 to 5). 

The overall score given by the Arab public to the government is “medium minus” (2.37 on a scale of 1 to 5).  

In recent months, the government has approved two large-scale programs to deal with problems in Arab society. In August, Bennett announced a new program to fight crime in Arab society and the creation of a special branch in the police designated for that purpose. In October, the government approved a new five-year program (2022–26) for Arab society with a cost of NIS 30 billion.

However, the level of trust of Arab citizens in the implementation of the government plan to combat crime in Arab towns and villages is very low (2.13 on a scale of 1 to 5), as it is regarding implementation of the new five-year plan (2022 – 2026) for economic development of Arab society (2.29 on a scale of 1 to 5) . Following the violent events of May, 2021, 51.8% of those surveyed believe that relations between Arabs and Jews in the country have been severely impaired. 

A year after the signing of the “Abraham Accords,” the Israeli-Arab public is divided in its position regarding the question of whether the agreements will contribute to political stability in the Middle East. Fully 63.2% believe that the agreements will not promote a political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians in the future; In contrast, 55.8% of those surveyed believe that the normalization agreements are a positive development for the Arab citizens of the country. 

A significant 40.5% of those surveyed believe that the integration of Ra’am into the government will lead to an increase in the turnout of Arab citizens in the next elections, and only 22.7% believe that their turnout may decrease. Half of those surveyed (51%) believe that the current coalition will not last for a full four-year term until the next election.  Only 29.1% believe that the current government will serve out its term. 

A large majority of those surveyed (71.4%) support a reunification of the Joint List of Arab parties – Hadash, Ta’al, Balad – and Ra’am, and only 23.7% believe that such a union is undesirable. 

Opinions among the Arab public are divided over the realistic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: 23.7% believe in a two-state solution based on the 1967 lines, 26.0% believe that the solution is single Palestinian-Jewish state from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River, while 37.9% believe there is no solution on the horizon and the situation will remain in limbo.

Fully 61.1% of those surveyed said that if elections for the Knesset had been held today, they would have participated in them, and 32.9% said that they would not have participated. 

Rudnitzky concluded that “government plans to develop Arab society are a positive step, but the test is in the execution of the plans. The government should adopt positive and inclusive rhetoric towards Arab citizens, especially as the fierce negative impression of the events of May 2021 continues to haunt many in Arab society, more than many in Israeli society tend to think. The longer the coalition lasts and the more Arab representatives within it play a significant role, the greater the chance that turnout in the Arab sector will increase in the next election, especially in comparison to the historic low participation rate recorded in the last election, which was 44.6%.”