ABSTRACT
While Israel’s population contains multiple identities, all face complexity in their relations stemming from difference due to religion, culture, social status, and national affiliation, as well as minority–majority relations (Bairey Ben Ishay & Gigi, 2017; Masalha, 2004). The ongoing national conflict permeates all spheres of life, and despite the fact that Jews and Arabs live alongside each other as citizens and meet in commerce, work, and academia, a sense of the foreignness and tension remains (Maoz, 2011). Often the first ‘equal’ encounters between these two populations take place in academia. Alongside career advancement, the role of academia is to educate toward pluralism and to create an environment that is accepting and nurturing of the various ethnic groups therein (Banks & McGee-Banks, 2010). Unlike in many locales in the world, the practical aspect of the cross-cultural encounter of counsellors in training in academia has not, heretofore, garnered much attention in Israel (Kroyer-Roth, 2010).
