Israel’s Arabs reject one-state solution “from the river to the sea”

For Arab Israelis, crime in their cities is the biggest problem. Supporting the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, on the other hand, is not important to them. This primarily has to do with the fact that they feel like Arabs and Israelis, not Palestinians. They therefore also reject a one-state solution “from the river to the sea” and support the two-state solution.

This is the result of a representative survey conducted by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation for Jewish-Arab Cooperation and the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University. The survey was conducted in November and used a broad range of questions to examine the state of mind of Israel’s Arab population. This comprises 2.1 million people, which corresponds to around 21% of the total Israeli population. 82.2% of Israeli Arabs are Muslim, 9.1% are Druze and 7.7% are Christian Arabs.

These are the most important topics and results of the survey:

Crime and violence. The survey shows that the main problem currently facing Israeli Arabs is personal security. 74% of respondents stated that crime and violence in Arab cities was the reason why they felt their personal security was under threat. In economic terms, however, Arabs living in Israel are satisfied: 73.4% of respondents described their economic situation as “good”.

Own identity. The survey is also politically revealing. When asked what was decisive for their identity, 35.9% answered “identity as an Arab”, 31.7% said “Israeli citizenship”. In contrast, “Palestinian identity” was only relevant for 14.7%.

Two-state solution. Only 14% of respondents therefore believe that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians should be resolved on the basis of a common state “from the river to the sea”. In contrast, around half (47.3%) see the two-state solution based on the borders before the Six-Day War of 1967 (when Israel conquered the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem) as the most realistic solution. However, one in five respondents (21%) is convinced that there is currently no political solution to the conflict on the horizon. A further 8.5% believe that such a solution is most likely to be achieved on a regional basis through mediation.

Cooperation with Jewish Israelis. Within Israel, however, a slight two-thirds majority (64.6%) is in favor of cooperation between Arabs and Jews. However, only 44.7% of the Arab Israelis surveyed are of the opinion that such cooperation is currently also supported by the Jewish side. In line with this, 74.6% believe that relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel have deteriorated in the last two years, i.e. since the massacre on October 7, 2023.

Relationship with the State of Israel. However, 61% of Israeli Arabs say that their personal relationship with the State of Israel has not deteriorated during this time, but has remained the same (50.4%) or even strengthened (10.6%). 57% of Muslim Arabs, 66.8% of Christian Arabs and 94.4% of Druze share this view.

Government participation. The view that Israel’s Arab parties should participate in the government after the next elections in October 2026 is also widespread: 77.4% are in favor of this. At the same time, 45.6% say that participation should take place under all circumstances, i.e. regardless of who wins the elections. In contrast, 31.8% believe that Arab participation should only take place if a center-left alliance can form the next Israeli government.

Parliamentary elections. According to the survey, 52.4% of Israeli Arabs want to take part in the elections to the Israeli parliament (Knesset) in October 2026 if their parties run individually. However, if the four Arab parties were to form an electoral alliance, 61.8% of Arab voters would go to the polls. This would enable them to win 15 to 16 seats in the 120-member Knesset and exert considerable influence on the formation of the next Israeli government.

Click here for the survey: An in-depth survey of the Arab community in Israel following the Israel-Hamas ceasefire – Foundation Office Israel – Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung