Arab population in Israel: 1,535,573
20.3% of Israeli population
over 278,000 in East Jerusalem
and the Golan Heights (2010)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_citizens_of_Israel
Seems to me that the Arabs in Israel live a fairly decent life. You don’t often hear of them causing problems.
I’m not certain that there isn’t a more moderate group in Israel, that would represent the Israeli/Arab contingent better than current Israeli/Arab leaders.
To be certain, Israel probable knows the leaders of these groups, and know if they are trying to game the system or not.
If anyone could lead to a more moderate Islam in the region, it would probably be the folks who live in Israel, having tasted the good life, and would like to see a more moderate future for the region.
And then again, the Israeli authorities may rightly see this as smoke and mirrors. It will be interesting to watch play out.
This is good news and I hope they succeed. It is modernity, Western technology and Western culture that have improved the life of the Arabs not Islam.