ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the place of Arab local government in the context of certain developments in the Israeli political economy. The elements of this context are the 1948 war and its aftermath, its meaning for the Palestinian Arab population that remained in Israel, Israeli policy following victory, and certain key political and economic transformation as they affected Jews and Arabs. In Israel, local government includes three types of bodies: municipalities, local councils, and regional councils. Local government in Arab settlements in Israel is influenced by general factors affecting all local authorities in the country, as well as by specific factors stemming from the status of Arab population in Israel and the social structure of Arab settlements. Three main types of problem obstructing the functioning of Arab local authorities may be discerned: problems in the functioning of municipal government in Israel as a whole; specific problems connected with the situation of Arabs in Israel; and internal problems originating in local variables.
