The Quiet Front

The Quiet Front

It has been widely reported that Israel has faced seven, yes, SEVEN, fronts in the prosecution of its war against the Iranian ring of fire. Of course, there are the Gazan (versus Hamas) and the Lebanese (versus Hezbollah) fronts. There is also the West Bank, where Israel is fighting Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations. Then there is Iran, where Israel has been faced with ballistic, drone and cruise missile attacks. Finally, there are the fronts confronting Iranian proxies in Yemen (the Houthis), Syria (Hezbollah and others) and, finally, Iraq (various Iranian-backed militias). Each of these fronts has presented different levels of confrontation, but each has required intense attention and kinetic activity.

Yet, there has been quiet on, perhaps, the most sensitive front: the home front. Israel’s population comprises approximately 20% Arab citizens. This population consists of Palestinian Arabs who stayed in Israel following Israel’s War of Independence in 1947/8. These are Arabs who stayed put in Israel, notwithstanding being urged to leave the nascent state by Arab leaders at the time of partition (having been promised a quick return to their homes following the united Arab armies stated goal of destroying the new State of Israel). That this population of nearly 2,000,000 has remained quiet during Israel’s war against fellow Palestinian Arabs in Gaza and the other fronts is extraordinary.

Israel’s Arab population has not always stayed quiet during Israel’s (many) battles against Arab armies. For example, as recently as 2021, during Israel’s mini-war against Hamas, Israel suffered riots by Israeli Arabs in what became known as the Unity Intifada. These riots were centered in Israeli cities and towns with large Arab population, such as Lod, Acre and Ramle. Arab rioters burned down Jewish homes and synagogues, set cars on fire and threw stones and other projectiles against Jewish citizens and Israeli police. Nearly 2000 Israeli Arabs were arrested. Even a general strike by the Arab-Israeli population was called during this time of crisis.

Yet, in the course of Israel’s current seven front war, the Arab-Israeli home front has seen no eruptions of violence. This is an extraordinary achievement, and speaks volumes about Israel’s relationship with its Arab citizens. Israel has often been accused of apartheid relative to its Arab population. Yet, nowhere else in the Arab world do Arab citizens have complete unfettered rights to vote, participate in the loftiest of professions, sit in legislatures and the judiciary, serve willingly in the armed forces, and enjoy the benefits of the welfare state and personal freedoms of speech, sexual preference, religion and other basic liberties. Nowhere else in the Middle East do Arab citizens enjoy a standard of living as that which they have in Israel.

To be sure, Israel’s relationship with its Arab population is not always tranquil, and, like many other democracies, claims of discrimination by minority populations fester. Yet, the failure of Israel’s home front to explode during the current war necessarily speaks to the contentment of Israel’s Arab population with their position in Israel and, perhaps, the dread they would have with a government run by the alternative – Hamas.