OP-ED: The Trust Israeli Society Needs to Restore

The Boston Globe

December 27, 2025

The trust Israeli society needs to restore

By Michal Sella

In Israel today, the question is not only how to recover from war but how to regain trust within Israeli society. Since Israel’s independence more than 77 years ago, relations between its Jewish and Arab citizens have been complex, sometimes fragile, yet always central to the strength of Israel’s democracy.

 

After the horrors of October 7, 2023, and the devastating two-year war that followed, this delicate social fabric was tested as never before. The Hamas attacks and Israel’s military response inflicted profound trauma on both Jews and Arabs, further straining those fragile bonds.

 

Arabs within Israel were caught between their Israeli and Palestinian identities. Many Israeli Arabs have families in Gaza and the West Bank. They aspire to improve their daily lives, to more fully participate in Israeli society, but also desire a negotiated sustainable peace between their country, Israel, and the Palestinian people.

 

Jews have endured a different kind of trauma after the single worst terror attack inside Israel in the country’s history. The threat of more attacks against Israel, indeed against Jews worldwide, is ever present. For many Israeli Jews, even liberal ones, the very idea of a Palestinian state has become unfathomable.

 

Against these tensions, can Jews and Arabs who continue to coexist peacefully also build a shared society? Every fifth Israeli is an Arab — they comprise 2 million in our population of 10 million.

 

Meaningful daily interactions are rare. Most Jews and Arabs throughout Israel live in different communities and their children attend separate schools. The education system, divided into four streams — secular Jewish, religious Jewish, ultra-Orthodox, and Arab — leaves few opportunities for genuine connections. Many do not encounter one another until they meet on a university campus or in the workplace.

 

Moreover, Jews and Arabs generally get their news from different sources. The contrast was particularly sharp in the Hebrew and Arabic media coverage of the post-October 7 period, intensifying fears and misperceptions of each other.

 

Relations have reached a new nadir. Jews and Arabs in Israel are more terrified of one another than before October 7. A national survey conducted earlier this year by my organization, Givat Haviva, found 72 percent of Jewish Israelis do not trust most Arab citizens, and 43 percent of Arabs say the same of Jews. The survey results show how much work is needed for healing in each community, to rebuild faith in one another and to restore cooperation among Israeli citizens who care deeply about the future of our country.

 

Before October 7, real progress was being made. Across the country Jewish and Arab citizens were deepening cooperation in education, local governance, and civil society. Nongovernmental organizations led the way, creating spaces where Israeli Arabs and Jews, often for the first time, could meet, learn, and work together.

 

Israel’s national health system is a notable example. The Arab minority accounts for 25 percent of doctors, 27 percent of nurses, and 49 percent of pharmacists. Israel’s excellent public health system cannot function today without its Arab staff.

 

Moreover, while Israel was on high alert from threats on multiple fronts during the past two years, the domestic arena stayed calm. The violence between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel that erupted during the May 2021 conflict in Gaza between Israeli forces and Hamas did not recur after October 7. This lack of violence was due to years of deliberate work by educators, local leaders, and NGOs to strengthen community ties.

 

For these reasons, I have hope that bonds of trust between Arabs and Jews in my country can grow strong again. At Givat Haviva, an organization that has led education programs since 1949 to advance Jewish-Arab relations, we have seen how those relationships have endured.

 

Our Shared Language Program, now in its 11th year, sends Jewish teachers to Arab schools to teach Hebrew and organize meetings for Arab pupils with Jewish educators. Immediately after October 7, some worried that this program, which reaches more than 20,000 Arab students, would collapse. Instead, within two weeks it resumed, fully and enthusiastically. And the Ministry of Education, a longtime supporter, increased funding for the current school year, recognizing that these encounters are essential for Israel’s healing and for nurturing a healthier society.

 

To be sure, our movement faces resistance, especially from extreme right-wing political leaders who have gained authority in the current government. Israelis, both Jewish and Arab, have been resilient in countering Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir’s intimidation of Arab citizens by arresting some for voicing their views on the war. At least 110 Arab citizens were arrested within a few weeks after October 7.

 

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a staunch advocate for expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank and annexing the territory, has cut national budgets for socio-economic development for Arab citizens, which has produced significant progress over the past decade in education, employment, transportation, and other areas.

 

Nonetheless, Jewish and Arab civic leaders have joined hands in efforts to keep their respective communities calm. Educational programming led by NGOs active in promoting a shared society have enabled Arab and Jewish citizens to freely share their thinking and to understand each other’s narratives.

 

A cohesive Jewish-Arab society is not just a moral goal. It is a strategic necessity for Israel’s stability, prosperity, and democracy. With a cease-fire in Gaza now in place, there is talk of expanding the Abraham Accords normalizing relations between Israel and Arab nations. Stronger relations between Arabs and Jews inside Israel could well make it easier for Israel to improve its relations with its Arab neighbors outside Israel.

 

Israeli society’s health will be emboldened not only by attaining peace across its borders but by achieving peace within them. Historic regional deals are possible as long as Israel’s fractured mainstream population is strong enough to make bold decisions and confront the extreme right.

 

Ahead of national elections in 2026, leaders across Israel’s political spectrum must make restoring and expanding beneficial Jewish-Arab relations a central priority. There is no alternative.

 

Michal Sella is the CEO of Givat Haviva, an educational center promoting a shared Jewish-Arab society in Israel.