Shared Coexistence Laboratories and the Deteriorating Version of Arabization

More indicators reveal the militarization of Israeli society and its increasing tilt towards the far-right and fascist tendencies, a trend that has significantly intensified during the genocide against Gaza, which has not yet ceased despite the alleged ceasefire. This situation has ignited all the crude hatred and feral revenge instincts against our Palestinian people, who have thwarted their colonial project of erasing and removing the indigenous population of the land and containing their remnants, similar to what happened in America, Australia, and elsewhere, for over 70 years through their steadfastness.

One of these indicators is a survey called the "Democracy Index" conducted by the "Israeli Democracy Institute" recently, which showed a sharp decline in Israeli public trust in judicial and democratic institutions compared to the nearly absolute trust in the military establishment. A reported 84% of the Jewish public expressed their confidence in the Israeli army, followed by the "Shabak" security service at 60%, compared to only 43% who trusted the Supreme Court, 40% for the Attorney General, 27% for the media, and 17% for the Knesset.

While we acknowledge that we are talking about a settler society living on the "edge of the sword," as they say, and not in its natural state like other peoples of the earth, and that the military and security establishment has always enjoyed high trust from this public in such cases, the sharp decline in trust in judicial, rights, and media institutions considered the crown jewels of the liberal democratic system that Israel has long bragged about to its neighbors before the world, alongside the absolute rise in trust in the army, reflects a dramatic transformation. It seems to unveil the liberal mask from Israel's face to present it in its reality as a settler colonial state.

In this context, it is not surprising that 72% of this Jewish public opposes the integration of Arab parties into the government. This is not about a government leaning towards a "peace process" with the Palestinians like Rabin's government at the time, but rather a right-center Zionist government comprising opposition parties to Netanyahu, similar to the previous Bennett-Lapid government that had been joined by Mansour Abbas's United Arab List—composed mainly of Zionist right-wing parties. This reflects a rejection of Palestinian Arabs even if they become Zionists, a colonialist perspective based on excluding indigenous peoples and those not belonging to the white race, even after subjecting and politically subduing them.

Further confirming this trend, the index reveals that the proportion of those who believe that in Israel, no one fears expressing their political opinion freely has dropped to 16% among Jews and 19% among Arabs, while 80% of Jews believe that some exploit freedom of expression to harm the state. Moreover, 66% of Jews view civil and human rights organizations as harmful to the state, suggesting a significant majority among the Jewish public supports constraining free speech and restricting the work of human rights organizations, even to the point of abolishing them.

Regarding Jewish-Arab relations within the state, 49% of Jews believe in the necessity of separating Jews and Arabs to preserve Jewish identity, while 53% support encouraging Arabs to emigrate from the country. This percentage is lower than the result reached by Professor Sami Smooha from Haifa University last October, which stood at 62%. Moreover, 65% considered Arabs a danger to the state’s security, and 48% supported depriving them of the right to vote in the Knesset.

As for the subject of integrating Arab parties into a future government coalition—which 72% of Jews opposed in the "Democracy Index" conducted by the Israeli Institute—this percentage decreased in Professor Smooha's survey to only 55%, noting that the question did not mention integrating Arab parties specifically but rather forming a government coalition with external support from Arab parties.

Strangely, in both cases, there has been no talk of any change in the policy of this awaited government towards the issue of our Palestinian people and the region's issues. This means that any support, whether coming from within or outside, is unconditional on this political level, implying that this promised government could continue the genocide it started with its predecessor, supported by one or more Arab parties, despite the paradox that it is rejected by the majority of Jews but supported by the majority of Arabs (77% in the Democracy Index and 76% in Smooha’s survey), as suggested by those surveys prepared in the so-called "Jewish-Arab Coexistence Laboratories," whose new findings will be announced on January 6, 2026, at the "laboratory" of Givat Haviva during a study day titled "Repairing Partnership" with the presence of Knesset members Mansour Abbas, Ayman Odeh, and Ahmad Tibi.