Jews and Arabs in the State of Israel and the State of Palestine

Jews

15,000,000

The global population of Jews remains under pre-Holocaust totals. Jews have been traditionally recognized as a distinct population under both traditional cultural norms as well as the Ottoman legal system which preceded the State of Israel.

At its core, this covers people recognized as Jewish by a Jewish community. This generally means anyone who can be married in a Jewish religious court. However, it also includes some people registered officially as having “no religion” even if they are considered to have Jewish nationality, such as hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have been born to non-Jewish mothers or who have any matrilineal descent from non-Orthodox converts.

Arabs

430,000,000

The global population of Arabs has undergone significant growth in the Demographic Transition. The Arab world is predominantly Muslim, with Christian and other minorities; there are also numerous denominations within these broader religious categories. The definition here is approximate, as it counts the population of Arab League countries, although there are Arabs who are citizens of other countries, and also non-Arabs who are citizens of these countries.

Palestinians

13,000,000

The global population of Palestinians was previously concentrated in Palestine (Eretz Yisrael) but today is split between diaspora and non-diaspora populations. In reports, the term “Palestinians” may refer most specifically to Palestine Citizens, or may refer most broadly to people with Palestinian ancestry regardless of citizenship; its usage is not always entirely clear. Also, the term is often used to refer to various cross-sections of the broader Palestinian population.

Although the PLO definition of Palestinians includes some Jewish communities, no community of Jews identifies as Palestinian in the modern day besides, perhaps, Palestinian converts to Judaism. Before the State of Israel’s establishment, the use of Palestine and Palestinian was common among Jews and Zionists, but today this term has become synonymous with Arabness and antizionism. Arab land laws deemed it illegal for Jews to buy land, and subsequent Palestinian charters such as the Hamas Covenant have explicitly excluded Jews. As a result, the label Palestinian does technicaly include all people who were in Palestine up until the eve of Israel’s independence, but practically speaking, only applies this as long as they are not Jewish.

Israel Citizens

9,500,000

Israel

Jewish, Arab, or others

Israeli citizens include Jews, Arabs, Druze, Circassians, and other nationalities and religious communities.

Israeli Jews

6,500,000

Israel

Jewish

The only Jewish-majority localities remaining in the world are in the State of Israel. Over 99.9% of all Jew were expelled from the Islamic world in the 20th century, except for the State of Israel as a breakaway region.

Israeli Arabs

1,800,000

Israel

Arab

There are two primary communities of Israeli Arabs:

Arab Residents in Israel

250,000

Stateless

Arab

There are two primary communities of Arab Residents in Israel (ARIs). These are people who are granted permanent residency because they are indigenous to an area annexed after 1949; they have the option to apply for citizenship, but it is not compulsory. There are several hundred thousand ARIs who have the option to apply for Israeli citizenship, but by choosing not to do so, can be understood as deliberately self-identifying as non-Israeli.

Palestinian Workers in Israel

Palestine or stateless

Arab

There are also many workers who come into the State of Israel for hours, days, or weeks at a time on work permits.

Palestine Citizens

Up to 5,000,000

Palestine or stateless

Arab

There are about 5 million Arabs who live in the sixteen governorates of the State of Palestine, who are eligible to obtain citizenship for the State of Palestine.

Bedouin

Bedouins are a distinct society with a nomadic tradition. Individuals generally count as Bedouin based on self-identification, and intra-community recognition. They are members of the Arab nation, and in many ways are part of the Palestinian narratives; recognizing their distinctiveness is not meant to divie them away from Arab and Palestinian issues which impact their lives.

Druze

Druze are a closed ethnoreligious group that have a clear definition: someone is Druze if both of their parents are Druze, and if they are recognized by the Druze community as Druze. The main contestations are whether they are politically affiliated with Jewish Zionism or Palestinian Arabaism, but both Jewish and Arab groups recognize the Druze as being a distinct community in the broader Arabsphere.