Israel's Deputy Defense Minister warned Saturday that if the government does not attempt to tackle the problems faced by the country's Arab minority, there could be serious repercussions for Israel's security.
"The Arab community in Israel suffers from social and economic problems which constitute a potential threat to security," Ephraim Sneh told Israel radio.
"This must not be allowed to happen, and I hope the current government will make available the necessary sums to solve the problems they face, in particular as far as education and social questions are concerned," he said.
"No Israeli government, apart from that of Yitzhak Rabin before his assassination (in November 1995), has made a serious attempt to tackle these problems. There have been a lot of mistakes made," he added.
He raised in particular the "huge problems" facing the Bedouin, many of whom serve in the Israeli army. Most Arabs are barred from performing military service.
Sneh was speaking the day after a mass rally by Israeli Arabs in the town of Umm el-Fahm, north of Tel Aviv, called to demonstrate their support for preserving Muslim holy sites in east Jerusalem.
The rally was organized by the Islamic Movement, which heads the municipalities of several Arab Israeli towns.
Israeli Arabs, who account for about one million of the country's 6.3 million population, have consistently complained of discrimination against them by the authorities who have cast doubt on their loyalty to the state.
Their anger was fuelled recently when Israeli police arrested 34 inhabitants of Umm el-Fahm, on suspicion of stockpiling weapons, setting fire to houses and setting up clandestine Palestinian nationalist networks.
Police have also opened an investigation into Arab Israeli MP Mohammed Barakeh for allegedly inciting violence – JERUSALEM (AFP)
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