Press

‘They Deserve Equality’: Herzog Addresses ‘National Challenge’ of Violence in Arab Communities

Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday addressed violent crime in the Arab sector, describing the problem as a “national challenge” and blamed inequality, The Media Line reported. Speaking at a conference at the Givat Haviva center Herzog said, “The issue of crime, delinquency and the loss of personal security in Arab society in Israel is a national challenge in every sense.” He added, “The responsibility [for the issue] of the communities and Arab society itself of course has its place, but there is no replacement for the responsibility of the state.” Herzog stated the war between Hamas and Gaza also had a palpable effect and that the conflict was “especially fruitful for agents of hate, despair and chaos.” “Arab citizens of Israel are the flesh and blood of Israeli society,” he says. “They obviously deserve, by right and not by kindness, equality in the full sense of the word.” He identified the lack of equality as a factor in burgeoning violence and an “historic missed opportunity.”

Givat Haviva Partnership Index: Jewish-Arab Partnership

Givat Haviva Survey: Jewish-Arab Partnership The Partnership Index, Givat Haviva’s annual survey of Jewish and Arab citizens, found that Arabs society has seen an increase in optimism regarding living in partnership between Jews and Arbs to 45% today, compared to only 29% last year. In Jewish society, the number of optimists has dropped from 24% last year to only 16% today. "The data shows that the labor market and campuses are the main door to Jewish-Arab partnership. The increase in the Jewish public’s willingness to work and study together is important news. This is where daily encounters are created,” said Givat Haviva CEO Michal Sella. “The complexity we see, of relative openness at work and reluctance on a personal level, is an invitation for us as a society to invest in building trust.” Read the press release.

Givat Haviva Survey: Trust in Police, Minister of National Security

"The data reflects a dangerous process of disintegration of public trust in the entities that are supposed to provide security, and a serious harm to the sense of personal security,” said Givat Haviva CEO Michal Sella. The Partnership Index, Givat Haviva’s annual survey of Jewish and Arab citizens, revealed that 52% of Jews and 68% of Arabs do not trust the Israeli police. Regarding Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, 76% of Arabs and 60% of Jews say his performance is poor. And 59% of Jewish and 56% of Arab citizens report that their sense of personal security has changed for the worse in the past year. Read the press release.

Givat Haviva Partnership Index: Political Partnership

Political Partnership Blurb "The findings of the Partnership Index indicate a large gap between the centrist parties’ leaders and their electorate: While the centrist leaders are trying to disavow Arab Knesset members, a significant portion of their public is open to Jewish-Arab political partnership,” said Givat Haviva CEO Michal Sella. “Mathematically, ideologically, and morally, the only way for the Change Bloc to form a government is to not rule out cooperation with the Arab parties and not exclude every fifth Israeli from the political game,” said Givat Haviva CEO Michal Sella.

Democrats’ Golan accuses Ben Gvir of ‘sowing destruction and chaos’ in Israel

Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats party, in his address to the Givat Haviva shared society conference, accused National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir of “sowing destruction and chaos” in Israeli society. He accused the government of turning a blind eye to the crime wave rocking Arab society, which has already claimed seven lives in 2026. “Deserving, intelligent and industrious young people full of potential are blocked by a government that has no interest in their future, a government that persecutes them, endangers them and leaves them to die,” he said. Golan also appeared to reiterate his commitment to join with Arab parties in order to form a potential government.

OP-ED: The Trust Israeli Society Needs to Restore

“In Israel today, the question is not only how to recover from war but how to regain trust within Israeli society,” Givat Haviva CEO Michal Sella writes in The Boston Globe. “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.” Sella explains in her oped why Jewish-Arab relations have reached a new nadir, but also why she has “hope that bonds of trust between Arabs and Jews in my country can grow stronger again.” At Givat Haviva, an organization that has led pioneering education programs on campus since 1949 to advance Jewish-Arab relations, “we have seen how those relationships endured”. She calls on leaders across Israel’s political spectrum to make restoring and expanding beneficial Jewish-Arab relations a central priority ahead of next 2026 national elections. “A cohesive Jewish-Arab society is not just a moral goal. It is a strategic necessity for Israel’s stability, prosperity and democracy,” Sella writes. “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 take bold decisions and confront the extreme right.” Read Sella’s full oped