Israeli Arabs seen as major threat to Jewish state - Arab racism INSIDE Israel

Israeli Arabs seen as major threat to Jewish state

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http://www.jnewswire.com/article/1778

By Ryan Jones
March 13, 2007

An annual survey of relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel shows that the chasm of distrust is expanding.

Published in Ha'aretz on Monday, the results for the 2006 survey reveal that 68.4 percent of Israeli Jews fear that their Arab countrymen will one day rebel against the state.

An even large number - 83.1 percent - say that Israeli Arabs pose a security risk to the nation because of their support for "Palestinian" terrorism and nationalistic goals.

Sixty-three percent of Jewish respondents said they no longer feel safe entering Israeli Arab towns.

On the flip side of the coin, 62 percent of Israeli Arabs fear that Israel will cede the main areas where they live to a future Palestinian Arab state, or that they will one day be expelled from the Jewish state.

Giving substance to the Jewish fears, Israel's Ma'ariv newspaper reported on Tuesday that Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) Director Yuval Diskin told Prime Minister Ehud Olmert earlier this week that the nation's Arab minority is becoming increasingly radicalized.

"Israeli Arabs are identifying more and more with terrorist organizations backed by Iran," and now pose a "strategic danger" to the Jewish state, said Diskin.

Diskin suggested remedying the situation by improving the living conditions of Israeli Arabs.

Widespread corruption and crime in Israeli Arab towns often cause them to fall far below the quality of life enjoyed in Jewish towns.

The few Arab towns that adhere to the rule of law and live in concert with the state - such as the town of Abu Ghosh outside Jerusalem - enjoy a quality of life unprecedented in the Arab Middle East.