The nationalisation of the Israeli ethnocratic regime and the Palestinian minority’s shrinking citizenship

Abstract

The main issue this paper deals with is the status of the Palestinian minority in Israel (Referred to in the literature using different terms: ‘Palestinians in Israel’, ‘Arabs in Israel’, ‘Arab citizens of Israel’, ‘the Palestinian minority’ and ‘Palestinians inside 1948’.) as part of what Israel considers its national security. It will examine the centrality of Israel’s Jewish character, as a component of Israeli national security, representing a model for the expansion of that which is encompassed by the concept of national security. Within this context, the minority’s presence and demands for equality poses a threat to the national security of Israel and of the Jewish majority. This concept and trend has gained traction in recent years with the ascension to power of the right wing and the ‘rising threats’ to Israel following the Arab Spring events. Majority forces within and outside the Knesset have attempted to consolidate Israel’s Jewish character by passing laws and formulating policies that identify its Jewish character as a red line – a key plank of national security.

Keywords:

• Minorities
• Israel
• national security
• Arab minority in Israel
• Jewish state
• Palestinian–Israeli conflict

Notes

1. The Israel Democracy Institute claims that 77.4% of Arabs would support a constitution that defines the state as Jewish and democratic. Many have criticised the way in which the question was put, which links this definition and entitlement to equality without the person polled understanding the meaning of this definition constitutionally and legally. The question is put as follows: Do you support the definition of the state as a democratic Jewish state that can achieve equality for Arabs? In contrast, the Mada Carmel Center’s annual poll showed in 2004 that 62% of Arabs believe that Israel cannot be Jewish and democratic at the same time..

2. For details see http://www.idi.org.il/anti-democratic_legislation/

3. See https://www.adalah.org/en/content/view/7771

4. For details see http://www.idi.org.il/arab_minority_and_jewish_state/

5. See http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.701942

6. For details see http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.706177

7. For details, see: The Palestinains in Israel - The Inequality Report. by Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, Haifa, March 2011. http://www.adalah.org/uploads/oldfiles/upfiles/2011/Adalah_The_Inequality_Report_March_2011.pdf (accessed in March 15, 2016).

8. http://www.adalah.org/uploads/New-Israeli-Discriminatory-Laws-March-2016.pdf (accessed in March 15, 2016).