The state makes a mistake when it declares a village a city. The Arab leadership is expected to oppose, but elected officials are happy for more standards and budgets.
Planning is supposed to begin years before the declaration, but the transition of a village to city status is meaningless unless it includes the establishment of an industrial zone and an employment zone. This is a process that is directly related to globalization and civil, rather than political, Israelization that Arab society is undergoing, writes Yossi Ben-Ghiat.