In-Depth Survey of the Arab Community shows:
- 75.4% of the survey participants reported feeling personally insecure, and their mood is low, mainly due to violence in Arab towns and the ongoing war.
- A large majority (75.2%) stated that the war which broke out on October 7, 2023, adversely impacted Arab-Jewish relations in the country. Nevertheless, 66% believe in Arab-Jewish political cooperation.
- 73.3% support the inclusion of an Arab party in the coalition to be formed after the next Knesset elections.
- The expected Arab voter turnout in the Knesset elections is 57%.
- Hadash-Ta'al is projected to win 4.8 seats, Ra’am – 4.3 seats, and Balad – 3 seats (which is below the electoral threshold).
- The two most important issues for the Arab public are addressing violence and crime (54%) and ending the war in Gaza (23.2%).
- The war between Israel and Iran has not changed the Arab public’s political priorities.
Main Findings:
The war between Israel and Iran did not change the political agenda of Arab citizens on fundamental issues such as the question of joining the government or supporting Arab-Jewish political partnership, though there is a certain impact on the definition of personal identity.
An overwhelming majority of the Arab public (75.4%) report that their sense of personal security is weak. The two main factors adversely affecting their mood are the high number of violent incidents in Arab towns (41.9%) and the ongoing war (37.6%). At the same time, 64% of survey participants report that their economic situation is relatively good.
A large majority of survey participants (75.2%) stated that the war that broke out on October 7, 2023, adversely affected relations between Arab and Jewish citizens in Israel; 43.8% of them stated that the relations deteriorated significantly. 35% stated that their sense of belonging to the state weakened following the war that broke out on October 7. At the same time, 53.2% said that the ongoing war did not affect their feelings toward the state.
Most of the Arab public (66% of respondents) believe in Arab-Jewish political cooperation, but only 40.2% of them believe that there is indeed support for such cooperation among the Jewish public.
According to the survey participants, the main issues in which Arab-Jewish political partnership could succeed are the following: addressing crime in Arab society (26.8%); amending discriminatory laws against Arab citizens, such as the Nation-State Law or the Kaminitz Law (22.2%); improving the socio-economic situation in Arab towns (14.1%); and strengthening the status of Arab citizens in the public domain (10.1%).
A large majority (73.2%) support the inclusion of an Arab party in the government formed after the next elections: 41.8% support joining any government that is formed, and 31.4% support joining a center-left government. These rates are similar to findings from previous surveys conducted by the Konrad Adenauer Program during the war.
Looking back on Ra’am’s participation in the Bennett-Lapid government (2021–22), 39.1% of the survey participants believe that it was a successful experience overall, while 46.6% do not.
If elections for the Knesset were held today, the expected voter turnout among the Arab public would be 57%, slightly higher than the turnout in the 25th Knesset elections (53.2%) held in November 2022. In this scenario, Hadash-Ta’al and Ra’am are expected to receive 4.8 and 4.3 seats, respectively, from Arab voters, while Balad is just below the threshold with 3 seats. Arab support for the Democrats party gains them only one seat.
Almost one-third of the survey participants (30.4%) stated that there is currently no politician or public figure who represents them. Nonetheless, the leading figures are Sami Abu Shehadeh (chairman of Balad – 15.5%), MK Ahmad Tibi (chairman of Ta’al – 14.2%), and MK Mansour Abbas (chairman of Ra’am – 13.8%). MK Ayman Odeh (chairman of Hadash) receives a lower level of support (8.1%).
54% of survey participants stated that the most important issue in the eyes of the Arab public is addressing the problem of violence and crime. A significant proportion (23.2%) cited an end to the war in Gaza as the most important issue.
The personal identity of Arab citizens consists of three dominant components: Arab identity (36.2%), Israeli citizenship (30.3%), and religious affiliation (21.4%). For a relatively small proportion (9.7%), Palestinian identity is the most important component.
Full findings - here.