The question is whether the State of Israel can integrate the living Arabs within it so that they can say "we" out of a sense of identity and sharing with the state, and without the State of Israel giving up and exalting its Zionist national character, that is, it is a state whose purpose is for the Jewish people? My answer is: Yes.
A key component of the solution to this issue is the economic-educational integration. As the level of education of Arab citizens of Israel increases, the number of Arabs earning a living in the areas of rural life is decreasing, as a type of autarky economy in which much of the business activity is conducted in a closed economy. Similarly, the number of Arabs working in professions located in the gray areas of the Jewish sector, where Arab activity is not significantly under state authority. Practitioners in these occupations, who are at the bottom of the occupational rank, can be paid in "black" in a thousand and one of varied forms.
This is an extensive economic activity outside the government's long line, namely: income tax and social security and other state tax payments. Most of those engaged in these professions remain at the bottom of the ladder over time. They operate under the radar of the state and its agencies, and encounter a concrete ceiling that blocks their integration into the Jewish market economy in society. In fact, life on the fringes of the economy threatened freedom and equality in the distribution of wealth among the Arabs. Under such conditions, tensions and social fissures within the Arab sector have not ceased to be the sensitive and sore spot in Israel's political fabric.
The welcome growth of the Arab middle class, which has been developing in recent years in huge strides, has led it to integrate into academic subjects. As part of this change, Muslim society has begun to set up, design and run high-quality primary and secondary schools within the community itself. Prior to this growth, many of the Arab middle class tended to send their children to Christian schools in Jaffa, Haifa or Nazareth, as they were considered high-quality and leading educational institutions. These individual schools achieved extraordinary achievements, but at the same time defined the weakness of the Arab sector, which failed to establish elitist schools on its own.
Today the situation is completely different. Futures Science High School "Umm al-Fahm" is one of the top ten schools in the country that teaches high scientific and technological disciplines, and there are many. In defining its objectives, it was determined that the graduate of the school should have an optimal and high quality diploma, which would enable the requirements of academic institutions to study in high quality subjects.
The strengthening of secondary schools in the Arab sector has led to significant growth in the appeal of these young people towards the universities and colleges, some of which operate with great success within the Arab sector. The "academic certificate" has a clear and definite meaning. Those winners enter the capitalist arena of the labor market, where the big corporations - private and government - control their sub-branches. These corporations, no matter if they are called Super Pharm or the Ministry of Education, have unparalleled educational and formative power in their operating policies, and they create a new Arab generation in which integration in Jewish society is strengthened.
The Likud, the leading and most significant party in Israel, must not rest on the laurels of recent polls. At this time, the Likud should establish new branches in Arab society, which will present a call for a new social contract of joint national activity and mutual civil dignity in front of the joint list. I estimate that in a gradual process many of the Arab voters will join the Likud.
The academic Arab middle class in the Triangle and the north of Israel establishes glorious schools. The same middle class that sends its children to kindergartens and schools in Jewish communities calls for a strong and clear voice for such cooperation. The term "Arab Jews" refers to large groups of the Muslim population in Israel who wish to join and cooperate with the Zionist project, also as a result of huge investments by recent Likud governments. There is no reason why this growing group of "Arab Jews" will not receive a political dimension in the form of Muslim voting and integration into the Likud.
Dr. Uri Cohen is a senior lecturer in the School of Education at Tel Aviv University