Arab citizens of Israel

Arabs are the largest ethnic minority in Israel. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic and Hebrew, and with varying social identities. Since the 1948 exodus, the Palestinians that have remained within Israel's 1948 borders have been colloquially known as "48-Arabs". In Arabic, commonly used terms to refer to Israel's Arab population include both "48-Arab" (عرب ٤٨, ‘Arab Thamāniya wa-Arba‘īn; Hebrew: 48-ערבים) and 48-Palestinian (فلسطينيو ٤٨, Filasṭīniyyū Thamāniya wa-Arba‘īn). In Israel itself, Arab citizens are commonly referred to as Israeli-Arabs or simply as Arabs; international media often uses the term Arab-Israeli to distinguish Arab citizens of Israel from the Palestinian Arabs residing in the Palestinian territories.

The traditional vernacular of most Arab citizens of Israel, irrespective of their religious affiliation, is Levantine Arabic. This includes Lebanese Arabic in northern Israel, Palestinian Arabic in central Israel, and Bedouin dialects across the Negev; having absorbed many Hebrew loanwords and phrases, the modern dialect of the Arab citizens of Israel is defined by some as the Israeli Arabic dialect. Most Arab citizens of Israel are functionally bilingual, with their second language being Hebrew. Recently, there have been reports indicating that Israeli Arabs are increasingly feeling a sense of Israeli identity and are showing a desire for integration and shared future with mainstream Israeli society. Self-identification as Palestinian citizens of Israel has also sharpened in recent years, alongside distinct identities including Galilee and Negev Bedouin, the Druze people, and Arab Christians and Arab Muslims who do not identify as Palestinians. By religious affiliation, the majority are Sunni Muslims. However, there is a significant Christian minority from various Christian denominations, as well as a Druze minority, among other ethnic and religious communities.

According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, the Arab-Israeli population in 2023 was 2.1 million representing 21 percent of the country's population. The majority of these citizens identify themselves as Arab or Palestinian by nationality and as Israeli by citizenship. Arab citizens of Israel mostly live in Arab-majority towns and cities, some of which are among the poorest in the country, and generally attend schools that are separated to some degree from those of Jewish Israelis. Arab political parties traditionally did not join governing coalitions until the United Arab List became the first to do so in 2021. Many Arabs have family ties to Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as well as to Palestinian refugees in the neighbouring states of Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. 60 percent of Israel's Arab citizens have a positive view of the Israeli state; the Druze as well as Bedouins in the Negev and the Galilee tend to identify more as Israelis than other Arab citizens of Israel.

Under Israeli law, Arab residents of East Jerusalem and Druze residents of the Golan Heights (both Israeli-occupied territories) have the right to apply for Israeli citizenship, are entitled to municipal services, and have municipal voting rights; this status is upheld due to Israel's effective annexation of the former through the Jerusalem Law of 1980 and of the latter through the Golan Heights Law of 1981. Both groups have largely foregone applying for Israeli citizenship, with the Palestinians of East Jerusalem and the Syrians of the Golan Heights mostly holding residency status.