The INSS research field on relations between the Jewish majority and the Arab minority in Israel was established in 2012, based on a recognition of the importance of the subject for an understanding of the complexity of internal Israeli aspects of national security.
While the Institute for National Security Studies focuses intensively on a wide range of issues raised by external threats, the field that studies Jewish-Arab relations deals with the threats to national security from within Israeli society itself. Among the internal threats to Israel’s security, the tension between the Jewish majority and the Arab minority represents an important danger, but also reflects a vital opportunity for the future of Israeli society.
In spite of the important differences between Jews and Arabs in Israel and the socio-economic gaps between them that must be reduced quickly, the two sectors have decisive shared interests. These interests could form a strong basis for maximum integration of all sectors of the Arab population into Israeli society, on the basis of full civic equality. The government of Israel has the vital obligation to narrow the gap between Jews and Arabs and to provide levers and incentives for the economic development of Israel’s Arab population. Encouraging the Arabs to integrate into Israeli economy and society will make a direct contribution to the country’s general prosperity.
In tandem, there is much importance to the negative trends in certain parts of the Jewish public, characterized by deliberate exclusion, hatred, and even racism towards Arab society. The research field studies and exposes the roots of these offensive and negative phenomena, which are damaging to Israel’s national security, because of the frustration and even hostility they create among the Arab public. The government of Israel has a great deal to do in this area. first and foremost, by taking action to prevent public or covert exclusion of the Arab public
The research field is funded by the Joseph and Jeanette Neubauer Foundation of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is managed as a partnership between INSS and the Tami Steinmetz Center of Tel Aviv University.
The research field seeks research collaborations with other research bodies and think tanks, in academia and the Arab sector. Among others, there has been a longstanding and fruitful partnership with the Israeli Democracy Institute, the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, and the Jewish-Arab Center of Haifa University.
