President urges ‘soul-searching’ over poll showing support for Arab transfer

Source: Times of Israel

Rivlin: It’s ‘unconscionable’ for Jewish citizens to think democracy only applies to them; Arab MK: Findings should keep Israelis up at night

President Reuven Rivlin on Tuesday said it was “unconscionable” that Jewish Israelis should view the State of Israel as a democracy only with regard to its Jewish citizens, and urged the public to engage in “soul-searching.”

The president was responding to the results of a major poll by the Pew Research Center, published Tuesday, which showed that nearly half of Jewish Israelis agree that Arabs should be expelled or transferred from Israel, and a solid majority (79 percent) maintain that Jews in Israel should be given preferential treatment.

“The idea that the State of Israel could be democracy only for its Jewish citizens is unconscionable and we must find a way to address this,” he said, after researchers from the Washington-based think tank presented him with the findings.

The poll also found that a majority of Israeli Jews (76%) said they view a Jewish state as being compatible with democracy – but the opposite trend was found among Arab citizens, with 64% maintaining that Israel cannot be both a democracy and a Jewish state (63% of Muslims, 72% of Christians, and 58% of Druze said they feel this way).

Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/president-urges-soul-searching-over-poll-showing-support-for-arab-transfer/