A professor emeritus of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies at Bar-Ilan University, Raphael Israeli is a leading expert on the Arab citizens of the Jewish state. In an interview with Nadav Shragai, he expresses concern that, rather than integrating into Israeli society, parts of this population are increasingly rejecting it. Israeli takes as evidence the extreme anti-Zionist, pro-terrorist positions held by the Knesset members representing Arab parties, and disputes the frequently heard argument that these politicians are more extreme than the voters who elect them:
[The] Arab public, that is supposedly not represented by the Arab leadership, votes for them again and again. . . . Until a year ago, it might have been theoretically possible to assume that half of the Arab population opposed the sort of extremism [expressed by these politicians], but the spike in Arab voter turnout for the Joint Arab List in the last two elections shows that the public and the party are one.
Arab Israelis, who are 20 percent of the population, want to integrate, but they vote [in large numbers] for a confederation of parties that define Israel as a state that commits theft and robbery. . . . For them, Zionism is colonialism. . . . There is no process of moderation, only radicalization. The Joint Arab List is [a group of] parties that emphasize their Palestinian-hood rather than their Israeli-hood.
Nonetheless, Israeli would be happy to see more moderate Arab politicians, like Issawi Frej of the far-left Meretz party, take part in governing the country:
Someone like Frej [is] not a Zionist. He’s a moderate person who is willing to coexist [with Jews in a Jewish state]. I would make him part of the government. It could be a unique step toward goodwill. But how can someone [like the Joint List’s leader Ayman Odeh], who demands that the Law of Return or Nation-State Law be revoked, or demands [the ability to] veto operations in Gaza, be part of the government or what holds the government up? Only suicidal people would extend their hand to anyone who wishes to undermine the foundations of their state.
Read more on Israel Hayom: https://www.israelhayom.com/2020/03/23/arab-israelis-are-pulling-away-from-society-not-integrating/