Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

June 9, 2021

The Recent Arab Riots in Israel Were a Revolt against Political Integration

Feeding on the resentments of those left behind by economic progress.

Few Israelis were surprised when Hamas decided to launch missiles at their cities and villages—after all, it is a well-armed organization dedicated to their destruction. However, Israelis were far more disturbed when mobs of their Arab fellow citizens started rampaging through Jewish neighborhoods. Such violence hasn’t been seen since October of 2000, when Arab riots coincided with the outbreak of the second intifada. But last month’s events were particularly dispiriting in that they followed nearly a decade of improving Arab-Jewish relations within Israel, culminating in the Arab Ra’am party’s recent decision to join the incoming governing coalition. Doron Matza seeks answers about what went wrong:

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