Minority Perspective: The Israeli–Arab Leadership Position Over the Israeli Peace Agreements With Arab States

Research on conflict resolution typically examines how local leadership shapes social and political responses. However, there is limited exploration of ethnic minority leadership and their attitudes toward agreements with adversarial states. A notable example is Israel, which has established five peace or normalization accords: with Egypt in 1977, Jordan in 1994, and the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco in 2020. While these agreements have been analyzed from a state-level perspective, the reactions of the Arab minority political leadership in Israel to these accords remain unexamined. This study investigates how Israeli–Arab leaders officially viewed these agreements through their statements in the Knesset, Israel's parliament. The analysis is framed through the lens of identity divisions among Israeli, Palestinian, and Islamist groups, which influence their political motivations. The primary finding reveals that Arab Israeli leaders maintain a consistent position. Despite their ideological differences—spanning socialist-communist, nationalist, and Islamist views—they present a unified front regarding key priorities, particularly the resolution of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. However, they differ on integration issues within Israeli society, utilizing the platform to advocate for both integrative and divisive policies. This finding suggests the need for further research into the role of leadership in majority–minority relations.