Givat Haviva Brings Israeli Jews & Arabs Together

After the Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack on southern Israel by Hamas-led terrorists from Gaza, and the subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza, one might assume that Israeli Jews and Arabs also launched violence against each other. But that was not the case.

Fear and mistrust between the two populations increased during the first few months after Oct. 7, acknowledged Mohammad Darawshe, director of strategy at the Center for Shared Society at Givat Haviva in Israel, despite the fact that also many Israeli Arabs were killed by Hamas. When surrounding Arab countries who joined Hamas in attacking Israel urged Israeli Arabs to join the fight, they didn’t. Israeli Arabs wanted to disassociate themselves from Hamas, said Darawshe.

However, after the Israeli military began its offensive against Gaza, which continues to some degree three years later, emotions among Israeli Arabs shifted.

At first seen as deterrence is now seen as more directed against Arabs.
But the relationships between Israeli Jews and Arabs are constantly shifting. “They are not static,” said Darawshe, who will be speaking at several Atlanta synagogues in November, including Congregation Bet Haverim and Temple Kol Emeth. He also was in Atlanta in October, speaking on a panel with former Israeli diplomat, Nadav Tamir, and the National Director of Engagement for J Street, Tamar Ariel, during J Street’s Leadership Summit. In addition, he was to have meetings with the American Jewish Committee and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. Darawshe was last in Atlanta two years ago, speaking at Ahavath Achim Synagogue.

Located between Tel Aviv and Haifa and established in 1949, Givat Haviva is considered the oldest institution in Israel promoting reconciliation between Jews and Arabs. More than 500,000 people have gone through its firsthand training just since 1963.

“With each crisis, we have to reinvent ourselves,” said Darawshe, pointing to the fact that Givat Haviva now provides programs for adults, not just children. “Now there’s a whole department for adult education.” Givat Haviva two years ago also started an alumni program, with 2,000 people registered. “Within five years, we hope that number will be 15,000. Four hundred are active,” meaning that they show up once a month.

Another Givat Haviva project is the United School whose students are one-third Israeli Arabs, one-third Israeli Jews, and one-third from other countries. “We want them to replace our current staff when they retire,” he says.

Among Israelis who have attended Givat Haviva programs are several candidates in Israel’s recent elections.

Elections always worsen the relationship between Israeli Jews and Arabs, said Darawshe, referring to verbal polarization, but this election was different. “This time, it came from ministers inside the government who are supposed to be mainstream. When it comes from the government, it’s much worse.”

Arabs feel more marginalized and delegitimized from the government. Part of the verbal attacks were meant to dissuade the opposition parties from asking the Arab parties to join a coalition government after the election, he explained. However, probably any future coalition might have to include at least one Arab party in order to form a government, as did the government formed by Yitzhak Rabin and the government formed by Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett. Sixty-one members of the 120-seat Knesset are required for a government majority.

Prior to the formation of the Lapid-Bennett government, only one-third of the Jewish voters supported including an Arab party, but, according to Darawshe, they finally supported the idea.

Jewish Israelis are more ambivalent about the Arab political parties than they are about the integration of Arabs into the everyday social-economic life of Israel, said Darawashe. Israeli Arabs – about 20 percent of the country’s total population – comprise a large number of the country’s doctors and pharmacists and can be found as co-workers in other industries, especially as bus and truck drivers, where they comprise at least 50 percent. “Jewish society knows how to integrate” Arabs, said Darawshe.

The Israeli government of the last four years, however, is more discriminatory, he added. Speaking before the recent election, he said, “This government needs 7,000 new doctors. Despite the fact that there are 4,000 Arab doctors trained in Israel, the government won’t hire them.” Israeli-trained Arab teachers are also available, but the government won’t hire them for Jewish schools – which are separate from Arab schools.

“This government stopped a project to train Arab women to get jobs,” he said, pointing out that this is counter-productive for the country’s economy. “This government is seen as the worst government in Arab-Jewish relations,” he said.

At the university level, Givat Haviva has identified hot spots and engaged in programs to train the staff to analyze what needs there are in real time. “We didn’t wait for conflict. We succeeded in reducing tensions with dialogue groups. The campus atmosphere [in Israel] is better than on American campuses.”

Darawshe would know because during the four months he is teaching at American University in Washington, D.C. and speaking at dozens of synagogues, Jewish community centers and at conferences, he has had an opportunity to hear from American Jews.

“Most people I meet support Israel, but a better Israel. American Jewish society believes in democracy, believes in the principles” laid out in Israel’s Declaration of Independence. He reports that he receives many follow-up emails and questions after his talks to American Jews.

That support may be useful to Givat Haviva. In “normal times,” he said its fundraising is sufficient. One-third of its budget comes from the Ministry of Education, and another third is generated through school fees and tuition. But the fundraising third is not covering the surge in demand, said Darawshe.

Noting that he has studied populations in other countries where it’s usually the minority group more willing to be engaged in reconciliation talks, because it’s existential for them. In Israel, he has found, there are four more Jews than Arabs reaching out for such programs.

Noting the organization’s long history, Darawshe said Givat Haviva is the only organization qualified in shared society in the country. “We are the mother ship. So, who are you going to call? Racism busters?”