There Are People Who Don’t Identify As Part of the Country They Live In

 As appeared in my Times of Israel blog. 

What To Do With a Population 
That Doesn’t Identify As Part of the Country They Live In.

By: David S. Levine

 

Imagine living in a country where your fellow citizens do not identify with the same national identity as you do. Of course, everyone should be free to maintain their own cultural identity and/or practice their religion but still marry that identity/practice with their nationality. For example, Italian-American or French-Israeli.

What if you learned that an overwhelming majority of citizens who make up nearly 20% of your country’s population do not consider themselves, or identify as, members of the country they are citizens of? And because they are sympathetic and empathetic to your county’s enemies, they are potential supporters of those who wish to destroy your country. What should your government do?

On May 22, 2025, the Jewish New Syndicate reported: “Seventy percent of Israel’s Arabs, or some 1.5 million citizens, do not see ‘Israeli’ as being their primary or even secondary identity, according to a survey published by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.” The article goes on to specify that “The majority of respondents (56%) said they primarily define their identity as Arab, followed by 25% who defined themselves as Muslim first. Three percent gave their main identity as Palestinian, while 11% said they felt Palestinian second, the study found, adding that the reliability of the latter statistic was relatively low.”

What makes this disturbing is that Islam is at war with Western democracy, of which Israel is a very visible member. On October 7, 2023, Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas’s political bureau, explicitly called for Palestinians in the Yehuda/Shamron (West Bank), Arab Israelis (the same citizens referred to in the aforementioned CBS survey) … to join Hamas’s fight against Israel. He threatened Israeli Jews, saying, “There is no place or safety for you.” This statement is a clear example of terrorist organizations like Iran, ISIS, and Hamas, encouraging Israeli Arabs (a fifth column), located within Israeli civilian midst, to actively participate in the violent struggle against Israel.

This is true also in the United States. The far left, pro-Palestine/Hamas (a U.S. designated terrorist organization, that makes any support illegal) actively promotes an anti-American posture that is becoming more and more violent and disruptive. Here is only one very visible example: “Video shows left-wing activists cheering Iran’s attack on Israel in Chicago — after chanting ‘death to America’ in Farsi.” This appeared in The New York Post (April 15, 2024). Take that into consideration along with the fact that some elected U.S. representatives, who have taken an oath of office to support the Constitution of USA, actually speak at related events that call for the downfall of Israel. This is similar to some of the Arab List parties, freely elected, and part of Israel’s democratic government.

This is a National Security issue. Here are three ideas that should be taken concurrently in order to protect Israel and its citizens:

·       Education. Start in the youngest grades. Teach and demonstrate what it means to be a citizen (freedom to be part of your own culture/religion) and its benefits (education, health care, jobs, security, and more). Teach the history of Israel, pointing out the population growth of different ethnic and religious groups, as well as their integration into Israeli society. Possibly even add a short daily Pledge of Allegiance, similar to the United States.

·       National Service (Sheyrut L’Umi). Make it mandatory for all. This national, but personal, participation is a key component to building national pride. Areas of service can range from medical to mechanical to technology. Consider also including the Ḥaredi community’s volunteering in MADA, Hatzalah and Zaka, as qualified National Service duty.

·       Leave. As they prefer to identify as either Arab or Muslim, why not encourage their voluntary emigration to official Arab Muslim countries, where the national religion and language is more in line with their declared national identity? The program should come with a financial incentive and fair market value for any assets (home, land, car, etc.) they may own and wish to sell. These Arab or Muslim countries may actually welcome the newcomers as they bring education, skills, and money, so that they will be contributory and not be a burden. This program can be funded by private and governmental funding.

All these concepts can be promoted in a positive manner. They are a better solution than the possibility of an explosion of a “fifth column.” While more ideas are welcome – action is necessary.

 

# # #

 

David S. Levine, MBA. Author “Revolutions: In Their Own Words – What They Really Say About Their Causes” and the forthcoming book “Prayer: In Their Own Words – Islam, Catholic, Judaism  – What Do They Pray For?” David is a former New York City advertising & marketing executive, and a retired college instructor at Rutgers University. Follow him on X (Twitter): @DavidsLevine.

 

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