Arab Israeli?
Some 1.2 million people, comprising some 20 percent of Israel's population, are non-Jews. Although defined collectively as Arab citizens of Israel, they include a number of different, primarily Arabic-speaking, groups, each with distinct characteristics.
Muslim Arabs, almost one million people, most of whom are Sunni, reside mainly in small towns and villages, over half of them in the north of the country.
Bedouin Arabs, also Muslim (estimated at some 170,000), belong to some 30 tribes, a majority scattered over a wide area in the south.
Christian Arabs, some 117,000, live mainly in urban areas, including Nazareth, Shfar'am and Haifa. Although many denominations are nominally represented, the majority are affiliated with the Greek Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches.
The Druze, some 113,000 Arabic-speakers living in 22 villages in northern Israel, constitute a separate cultural, social and religious community.
The majority of Israel's Arab population lives in self-contained towns and villages in Galilee, including the city of Nazareth, the central area between Hadera and Petah Tikva, the Negev and in mixed urban centers such as Jerusalem, Akko, Haifa, Lod, Ramle and Yafo.
Arab citizens, who constitute more than one-fifth of Israel's population, exist on the margins of the conflicting worlds of Jews and Palestinians. However, while remaining a segment of the Arab people in culture and identity and disputing Israel's identification as a Jewish state, they see their future tied to Israel. In the process, they have adopted Hebrew as a second language and Israeli culture as an extra layer in their lives. At the same time, they strive to attain a higher degree of participation in national life, as well as economical and social equality.
