Benjamin Netanyahu’s appearance at the United Nations drew the usual condemnation, extending well beyond criticism of the war against Hamas and attacks on Iran to unfounded accusations of genocide and war crimes. But even some Israel supporters perceive in Netanyahu a deep-seated hostility toward Arabs, citing his support for Itamar Ben-Gvir and his own anti-Arab campaign rhetoric. While both are fair game for criticism, this ignores the very positive, sustained policies towards the Israeli Arab community that Netanyahu-led governments have pursued since he assumed office in 2009.
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The second intifada in 2000 caused a collapse of tourism and construction in Israel that dramatically reduced Israeli Arab employment. The resulting Arab despair generated widespread support for the 2006 Vision Statements that called for autonomy rather than what seemed like a hopeless goal of economic and social integration. This led many Zionists to realize that the status quo was untenable. While reforms slowly began under the Labor government, they accelerated when Netanyahu assumed office.
Virtually all of these substantial gains have been ignored because they counter the standard anti-Netanyahu narrative.
Netanyahu had a number of reasons for these initiatives. Government safety-net programs made Arab poverty very costly; entry into the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) required reducing inequalities; and high-tech entrepreneurs desired the greatest pool of educated workers possible.
The government introduced national service that enabled Arab women to work in their communities. They earned the same educational and training benefits offered to those who enter the IDF, jumpstarting an increaase in female employment and college enrollment. Professional employment opportunities were enhanced when the government initiated a successful recruitment of Arab teachers to work in Jewish schools.
Budget initiatives improved infrastructure, bringing modern sewerage, improved transportation and industrial zones to Arab communities. Increased educational budgets drastically reduced overcrowding and increased performance levels. And affirmative action initiatives funded the hiring of Arabs in both the private and government sectors.
Sustained actions were also the result of the moral beliefs of many in Netanyahu’s Likud Party, most prominently Naftali Bennett. When the first five-year plan to more systematically improve the situation of Arab citizens was enacted in 2016, its preamble quoted Zvi Jabotinsky, Likud’s inspirational forebearer:
After the formation of a Jewish majority, a considerable Arab population will always remain in Palestine. If things fare badly for this group of inhabitants, then things will fare badly for the entire country. The political, economic, and cultural welfare of the Arabs will thus always remain one of the main conditions for the well-being of the Land of Israel.
This five-year plan furthered the integration of Arab citizens into the country’s fabric. By the time it ended, Arab citizens were in leading positions in industry and government, on the Israeli Supreme Court, and as members of the new governing coalition in 2021.
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In response to a spike in violence in Arab towns, Netanyahu initiated a campaign to hire more Arab police officers, leading to the doubling of their numbers. In recognition of the persistence of sexual violence, a special effort was made to recruit Arab policewomen, allowing them to wear the hijab while on duty. More than 80 Arab women were recruited and Israeli President Isaac Herzog held a ceremonial dinner to honor them.
The 2021-22 Change government passed a second five-year plan. However, when IDF-Hamas war started, the finance minister of the new Netanyahu-led government tried to freeze its implementation. The left-wing Arab-Jewish organization Sikkuy noted:
In recent years, the implementation of the five-year plans for Arab society … has resulted in an unprecedented increase in the employment rates of Arab women from 21% in 2010 to approximately 43% in 2022 and in the reduction of the poverty gap between Jewish and Arab families by approximately 19%.
Sikkuy’s feared the adverse ramifications of the freeze. However, the freeze was canceled after a pushback by members of the ruling coalition, which even added more funds.
Also, underreported has been the sustained initiatives to better the lives of Palestinians living in East Jerusalem. Starting more than a decade ago, successive Likud Jerusalem mayors have improved infrastructure and employment opportunities. The railroad line was extended connecting East Jerusalem to West Jerusalem and a major hi-tech hub, Silicon Wadi, was built. Jerusalem Council member Laura Wharton of the leftwing Meretz party said: “The thinking here now is to develop high-tech and other industries that will allow people from East Jerusalem to find employment in Jerusalem.”
Indeed, on the eve of the 2023 war, Netanyahu’s government passed a five-year plan to further improve the welfare of East Jerusalem Palestinians. Its confirmation resolution stated, “The development and prosperity of Jerusalem … for the benefit of all its citizens…is based on the integration of East Jerusalem residents into the fabric of urban life and Israeli society.” And attempts by the extremists to cut those funds that aided East Jerusalem students seeking entry into Israeli colleges was rebuffed.
Virtually all of these substantial gains have been ignored because they counter the standard anti-Netanyahu narrative. Instead, isolated extremist harassment of Arab citizens in the mixed cities and Christian nuns in the Old City or the threatened eviction of a handful of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem made international news. There may be reasons for some to hope an Eisenkot-led opposition will be victorious in the coming elections, but better conditions for Arab citizens is not one of them.
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Robert Cherry is an American Enterprise fellow and author of Arab Citizens of Israel: How Far Have They Come?(Wicked Son, 2026).
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