People

A new society with ancient roots, Israel is still evolving today. Its population is among the most diverse on Earth: since the tiny state’s inception, people have migrated there from across the planet, from places as far afield as the tundras of Russia and the plains of Africa. A global hub for the Jewish people, when Israel absorbed immigrants from every corner of the Earth, it absorbed their rich and varied cultures. Israel is now truly an international society, combining the German with the Moroccan, the Australian with the Ethiopian and the South African with the Polish to create the most exciting of cultural hotpots, reflected in the country’s innovative cuisine and music. This diversity is also reflected in levels of religious observance: the Haredim, ultra-Orthodox Jews, comprise a large proportion of Jewish society, with a quite distinct set of traditions and practices and their own education system.

Nor is its diversity restricted to the Jewish population, which comprises some 75% of the population: the remaining quarter, some 1.8 million people, is every bit as diverse, a mix of communities with distinct characteristics and features.

The majority of Israel’s Arab minority are Muslim Arabs, mostly Sunnis, who in large part reside in towns and villages in the north. Although many live in majority-Arab towns as Umm al-Fahm in the Galilee, they also enjoy a strong presence in the centre of the country in the mixed Jewish-Arab towns of Acre, Haifa, Jaffa and, most notably, Jerusalem.

The Muslim Arab community’s past reflects the dynamic history of the Ottoman Empire. Some communities have existed since before the Crusades, whilst many are descended from Arabs who immigrated in the nineteenth century from all corners of the Empire when waves of Jewish migration stimulated economic growth, and the land began to enjoy greater employment, wages and living conditions.

The Arab minority enjoys de facto cultural autonomy in vast swathes of life. Since Arabic is an official language in Israel, Muslim Arabs are therefore able to preserve an independent identity with their own media, literature and theatre, religious courts for family affairs, and even an Arabic-language schooling system. 

The Bedouin Arabs, who are also Muslim, are a rich tapestry of tribes dwelling in the Negev Desert. Historically nomadic shepherds, the Bedouin are currently in a period of transition, becoming a  permanently settled society and entering  the national workforce.

Some 120,000 citizens of Israel are Christian Arabs. A wide variety of denominations exist here, of which Greek Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches have the strongest presence. An ancient community, they mostly live in such northern towns as Nazareth and Haifa.

A similar number of Druze, about 115,000, also live in Israel. A distinct cultural, social and religious Arabic-speaking community, the Druze live in villages across the north and in the Golan. The Druze have made an especially valuable contribution to Israeli society: they serve in the Israel Defence Forces and enjoy representation beyond their numbers in the Knesset.

Israeli Arabs are mostly exempt from national service, out of consideration for their familial and cultural ties to the rest of the Arab world (most of which has still not made peace with Israel). Many Bedouin however volunteer for the army, whilst the number of Arabs signing up for  national (non-military) service is also growing, showing an increased willingness to integrate into wider society.

Around 4,000 Circassians are an inseparable part of Israel’s historic heritage as a hub between continents in the old Ottoman Empire. Concentrated in two northern villages, this Sunni Muslim community claims descent from the peoples of the Caucasus, thus entirely distinct from the majority of Muslims in Israel, who are Arab. They participate successfully in wider Israeli society, whilst fiercely protecting their own unique cultural identity.

Israeli society is thus characterised by strong social and religious commitment, political ideology and cultural creativity. It is a society steeped in custom, adjusting to the rapid changes of the modern world. Compulsory education and robust democracy have weakened the traditional insular lifestyles and communities have opened up to wider society. The lives of Arab women,  have for example, been vastly improved by legislation guaranteeing sexual equality, full rights for women, and the prohibition of polygamy and child marriage. Israelis enjoy universal suffrage, meaning Israeli Arabs are  represented in the Knesset proportional to their voting turnout. Israel currently has three Arab parties (one mixed Jewish-Arab/Communist).

The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel (1948) guarantees freedom of religion for all. Each religious community is free, by law and in practice, to exercise its faith, to observe its holidays and weekly day of rest, and to administer its internal affairs. Each has its own religious council and courts, recognised by law, and with jurisdiction over all religious affairs and matters of personal status such as marriage and divorce. Each has its own unique places of worship, with traditional rituals and special architectural features developed over the centuries.