ABSTRACT
Introduction Israel is defined as a Jewish State. Yet alongside the Jewish majority exists an ArabPalestinian minority, comprising close to one-fifth of the state’s population. Palestinian citizens of Israel are those members of the indigenous Palestinian community and their descendants who remained in their homes during and after the 1948 war, and who subsequently became citizens of the Israeli state. Today, Palestinian citizens of Israel number over 1,200,000, and can be viewed as a distinct national, cultural, religious and linguistic minority.
