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Zionist Director-General Moshe Ben Attar (Daniel Bar On / Jini)
Last update - 00:00 19/02/2008
Zionist Council of Israel: Israeli Arabs must be 'unswervingly' loyal to state
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Israel 

Israel's Arab citizens must be unswervingly loyal to the state, condemn anti-Israeli terror and fulfill their duties through national civilian service, the Zionist Council in Israel contends in a draft document on Israel's policy toward its Arab minority.

The council also proposes Israeli Arabs enjoy cultural autonomy and budgets appropriate to their population.

In the coming months, the document will be sent for discussion to Jewish Agency institutions and the Zionist Executive, with the object of formulating a unified policy on Israel's relations with its Arab minority. It was written by the director-general of the Zionist Council, Moshe Ben Attar, for discussion by members of its strategic forum. Advertisement
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The council is the main executive arm of the World Zionist Organization, and was founded in 1970 to strengthen the Zionist elements of Israeli society. Its recommendations do not have binding force in Israel.

Ben Attar stressed last week that this was the first time a body belonging to the Zionist movement had dealt with the issue of Israeli Arabs.

He began working on the document several months ago, after Arab public figures published four documents calling for changing the Jewish nature of the state of Israel and granting collective rights to the Arab public.

Subsequently, at least two more groups of Jewish researchers and public figures began work on other documents on the subject, while official government agencies are also involved with it.

Ben Attar believes it is necessary to preserve a solid Jewish majority in Israel, while addressing the needs of the Arab minority in the country, he told Haaretz last week.

"The State of Israel is the state of the Jewish people but is also obligated to grant equal rights and obligations, to all its citizens," he said.

The document he drafted states: "The Jewish character of the State of Israel shall not contradict it's being a democratic state for all its citizens."

The document, which offers a format for discussion and has yet to be finalized, raises 13 points for discussion regarding relations between the state and its Arab public. It says Israel is the state of the Jewish people and it must demand complete loyalty from Arab citizens.

Furthermore, the state must bestow equal rights, as well as obligations, on its citizens. In this connection, the document mentions that young Arabs should be encouraged to join the national civilian service, a deeply controversial proposition which most Arab civic leaders oppose.

It envisions autonomy for Israeli Arabs to preserve their linguistic, cultural and national identity. The state would provide budgets commensurate with their proportion in the population, contrary to the situation today, in which Israel's Arab minority "suffers from budgetary discrimination and underrepresentation in many fields."

The document further calls for promoting Arab women and working to generate a layer of Arab leadership. Bedouin women would receive government grants for academic studies. As for the situation in the Negev, the paper says the state should strive to concentrate all the Bedouin in permanent communities.

Beyond the document's content, which is bound to arouse major objections among Israeli Arabs, it makes statements that fly in the face of the way most Israeli Arabs define themselves.

"The minorities in the State of Israel cannot be lumped together in a single entity," the document points out. "In setting policy, the diversity of all ethnic groups must be taken into account: Arabs, Muslims and Christians, urban and rural sectors, Bedouin, Druze and Circassians."

Related articles:
  • Israeli Arab group proposes new 'multi-cultural' constitution
  • Poll: 75% of Israeli Arabs support Jewish, democratic constitution
  • Israeli Arabs to get greater school funding, settlements less

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      1.   Jewish rights in Arab states 06:06  |  nunya 19/02/08
      2.   They have it backwards 07:14  |  Robert 19/02/08
      3.   Israel is the state of the Jewish people 07:40  |  MO 19/02/08
      4.   How about the Harideem serve first 07:46  |  SJ 19/02/08
      5.   # 1 Why don`t you compare the jewish state 07:54  |  Kris 19/02/08
      6.   Nice Statement, But.... 08:27  |  MB 19/02/08
      7.   The State has been undermining its own efforts 08:27  |  Jamie 19/02/08
      8.   Arab Rights and Bedouin Rights 08:35  |  Daniel 19/02/08
      9.   #1, arabs treat u good, is tht how u repay? 09:11  |  raw truth 19/02/08
      10.   WZO Council 09:51  |  Abraham Davidson 19/02/08
      11.   Israeli Arabs on way to Ben Gurion Airport 10:11  |  Brazilian Jew 19/02/08
      12.   Sure but on the East Bank of the Jourdan or in the Sinai 11:09  |  Moshe 19/02/08
      13.   Not Just Cultural Autonomy for Arabs 12:51  |  Rabbi Jonathan 19/02/08
      14.   Autonomy for Israeli Arabs = Apartheid 13:02  |  Boycott 19/02/08
      15.   Solution: Democracy, seperation of synagoge and state 13:08  |  Machevllia Spinoza 19/02/08
      16.   To #2 13:11  |  Machevelli Spinoza 19/02/08
      17.   This is fantastic! Hope the IL-Arabs´ll appreciate these reforms? 13:24  |  AliciaYasmeen 19/02/08
      18.   automny 14:23  |  geroge 19/02/08
      19.   Racist Jewish State 14:44  |  Minda 19/02/08
      20.   israel`s promise upon creation 14:47  |  muddy water 19/02/08
      21.   Re: Nunya #1 16:36  |  Jeff 19/02/08
      22.   Arab will need to give not only get from the State 16:44  |  nadav 19/02/08
      23.   What a stupid article! 17:13  |  St. Hele 19/02/08
      24.   # 11 Israeli Arabs / immigrants 01:47  |  Frank 16/02/09
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