New study shows over 75% of Arab Israeli 12th-grade students support non-military national service

More than three-quarters of Arab Israeli 12th-grade students support volunteering for non-military national service, according to a new study presented on Tuesday at Tel Aviv University, signaling what researchers say is growing openness to integration within Israeli society.

The study, conducted by the Moshe Dayan Center's Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation and unveiled in cooperation with the Kadar Foundation, found that 75.8% of Arab Israeli high school seniors support non-security national service. Nearly half of the respondents (46.9%) expressed “strong support” for the idea.

Researchers said the findings point to broader shifts in attitudes among Arab Israelis on civic participation, political partnership and integration into Israeli society, even as many respondents voiced concerns about Jewish-Arab relations and violence in Arab communities.

The study found support for non-military national service was consistent across genders, with 75.3% of male respondents and 77.2% of female respondents backing the idea. Among Arab Israelis aged 18-34, support stood at 69.1%.

Artik Rudnitzky, director of the Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation and head of the study, said the findings reflect changes in Arab Israeli public opinion during Israel’s ongoing war against Iran and its regional proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

"In the shadow of a prolonged multi-front war, many in the wider Israeli public are unaware of the changes in Arab public opinion," Rudnitzky said.

Hamas terrorists murdered and kidnapped both Jewish and Arab Israeli citizens during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.

Rudnitzky described the study’s findings as being significant for the future of Israeli society.

"The importance of the findings cannot be overstated. Arab citizens present a roadmap for the rehabilitation of Israeli society through integration and influence, not only in the political sphere but also in the social sphere."

Non-security national service has long been considered sensitive within parts of the Arab Israeli community, partly because of concerns over how participation could be viewed in the broader Arab world.

The survey also found that 77.2% of respondents support Arab political parties joining a future Israeli governing coalition. While 43.3% supported joining a coalition regardless of its political composition, 33.9% said they would only support participation in a center-left coalition. Historically, Arab parties in the Knesset have generally avoided joining governing coalitions because of political and ideological considerations.

In 2021, Arab Israeli Mansour Abbas and his Ra’am party became the first Arab party to formally join an Israeli coalition government. Abbas has focused heavily on domestic concerns, including socioeconomic integration and combating rising crime rates in Arab communities.

"The broad support for an Arab party joining the coalition is not new; however, what is interesting is that this support has not diminished due to the war, and has even increased somewhat," Rudnitzky assessed.

"However, the new finding is the principled support for integrating Arab 12th-grade graduates into non-defense-related national service. For Arab citizens, this is not just a path to deeper integration into broader Israeli society, but also an opportunity for Arab youth to gradually build their lives upon finishing high school, similar to the mainstream youth in Israeli society," he explained.

The study also highlighted ongoing domestic concerns among Arab Israelis. Some 71.3% of respondents identified violence and crime in Arab communities as the most urgent issue requiring government attention.

"The survey also points to acute problems that require immediate government attention, chiefly addressing the problem of crime and violence, as well as improving protection in Arab towns during war and other emergency situations," Rudnitzky concluded.

According to the survey, 53% of Arab Israelis said they would vote if elections were held today, compared with 53.2% voter turnout among Arab Israelis in the 2022 election.

While many respondents expressed support for greater integration into Israeli society, tensions between Jewish and Arab citizens remain evident. Nearly 60% of respondents described current Jewish-Arab relations in Israel as “not good.” At the same time, 63.7% said they support a political partnership between Israel’s Jewish majority and Arab minority.

The findings also revealed notable differences across religious and sectarian groups. Among Druze Arab Israelis – who traditionally serve in the Israel Defense Forces – 81.7% reported a strong sense of belonging to the state of Israel. By comparison, 53.3% of Arab Christians and 50.5% of Arab Muslims said they felt a strong sense of belonging to the country.