Up until this point in the book, we have focused our attention on the Palestinian minority in Israel. We have done so because it is essential to understand the developments that have taken place within the Arab community over the past few decades and especially in recent years in order to accurately assess the current state and likely future of Jewish-Arab relations in Israel. In particular, we believe that the growing political assertiveness of the Palestinian minority and its increasing demands for recognition as a national minority and for collective rights, including cultural autonomy, represent a major challenge for Jewish-Arab relations.

In this chapter, we examine the other side of the majority-minority divide in Israel – Israeli-Jewish society. We will first discuss the perceptions, beliefs, and views of Israeli Jews concerning Arab citizens of Israel and explain what gives rise to them. We will then discuss the attitudinal and political trends among Israeli Jews since the events of October 2000, which we regard as a significant turning point in Israeli-Jewish attitudes.