Israel's Declaration of Independence called for equal treatment under the law of all its citizens, regardless of their beliefs or national origin. Arab Israelis have had political representation since the state's first parliamentary assembly; currently, thirteen members of the Israeli Parliament are Arab-Israeli, most representing majority Arab political parties. An Arab-Israeli judge also sits on the Supreme Court,[12] and a Druze is next in line to the acting presidency (and has assumed role as such for a week-long period).



"Arabs of Israel", "Arab population of Israel", or "Arab inhabitants" are terms used by Israeli authorities and Israeli Hebrew-speaking media to refer to non-Jewish Arabs that are citizens and/or residents of the State of Israel.[13][14][15]

The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, for example, therefore includes Arab permanent residents of Israel who do not hold Israeli citizenship in its census figures. As a result, the number of Arabs in Israel is calculated as 1,413,500 people or 19.8% of the Israeli population (2006).[16] These figures include about 250,000 Arabs in East Jerusalem, and about 19,000 Druze in the Golan Heights.

Terms used to refer to Arab citizens of Israel in the Arab media or Arabic cultural lexicon are "the Arabs of '48", "the Palestinians of '48"[17] or "the Arabs within" (ÚÑÈ ÇáÏÇÎá). These terms do not include the East Jerusalem Arab population or the Druze in the Golan Heights since these territories were occupied by Israel in 1967.

Other terms used to describe Arab citizens of Israel include "Arab Israelis",[18] and "Palestinian Arabs in Israel".[19][20]

All the terminology does not account for distinctions between different Arabic-speaking sub-groups in Israel. For example, these terms are commonly used to refer to the Druze population as well, even though some of them do not regard themselves as Arabs. [citation needed]

Additionally, Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews, who left or were expelled from Arab countries, mostly after 1948, or who are the descendants of those immigrants and refugees, are not usually identified as Arabs, though many of them and their ancestors were traditionally Arabic-speaking. Still, there are some Mizrahi and Sephardi Jews that do self-identify as Arab Jews.[21][22]