juncture of the Middle East, they often face a ‘loyalty crisis.’ br

Does civic loyalty to Israel clash with their national conscious- br

ness?”

Above all, again the destructive myth: “All the same, there is a br

gradualness of integration, and year by year the tempo quickens br

a little. The socioeconomic gap narrows all the time. Reciproci- br

ty of suspicion is disappearing. The omens are not in- br

auspicious.”

This is the Israeli Establishment’s version of the opiate of br

the masses. Is it, perhaps, those Israeli materialists whose own br

reflexes are so conditioned by material benefits who thus assume br

that the Israeli Arab marches on his stomach?

And so, as late as November 15, 1974, Education Minister br

Aharon Yadlin could tell a group of Israeli Arabs: “The State of br

Israel expects its Arab citizens to be ambassadors of peace be- br

tween Israel and her neighbors. . . . Israel is the example of how br

Jews, Muslims, and Christians can live together in mutual re- br

spect.”

And then came Land Day and what should have been br

perceived as the bursting of the ballooning myth. But no. With br

every fiber of the state crying out the bitter failure and br

bankruptcy of Israeli policy vis-à-vis its Arabs, Toledano, on br

April 9, 1976, analyzed the problem for the Jerusalem Post, br

saying: “There is no alternative to a policy of more far-going br

integration of the Arab minority into Israel. . . . It means prima- br

rily the opening of the dominant Jewish Israeli society, economy br

and policy to Arabs who wish to integrate and lead full and br

fulfilling lives in Israel.”

The government, of course, agreed, a “senior cabinet br

minister” telling the press (April 5, 1976) that “government pol- br

icy toward Israel’s Arab community requires no revision.” He br

insisted that “everyone recognized the need for speedier im- br

plementation of programs to give the Arab citizen a wider role in br

the life of the state. Educated Arab citizens have to be integrated br

into the national endeavor.”

And indeed, on May 23, 1976, the cabinet set up a br

ministerial committee to study and implement proposals intro- br

duced by Toledano and super-dove Moshe Kol, minister of tour- br

ism. The proposals called for solving the Israeli Arab ferment by br

“stepped-up integration of especially young intellectuals in em- br