Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who won the Michigan Democratic Senate primary last week, accused Israel of, among other calumnies, the crime of “apartheid.” Like similar anti-Israel libels currently in vogue (e.g., “genocide,” “starvation”), the assertion that Israel is an apartheid state has no factual basis—indeed, the inverse is true. Israel isn’t just the only democracy in the Middle East and North Africa; it’s also the region’s only country that grants equal rights to all its citizens.
The fact is, Israeli Arabs enjoy rights and freedoms their brethren in any Arab state can only dream of. Israeli Arabs are allowed to vote in free elections, work in any profession and hold office at every level of Israel’s government. By comparison, most Arab countries deny their people even the most basic rights.
Furthermore, there’s no limitation on Israeli Arab achievement in Israeli society. Not only do Israeli Arabs have equal opportunities to their Jewish counterparts, they are even overrepresented in some important sectors of Israeli society, especially healthcare. In contrast, opportunities for people in most Arab countries, especially women and religious or ethnic minorities, are severely limited.
This contrast in political and social freedoms between Israeli and Palestinian societies is dramatic. Indeed, human rights activists truly concerned about “freeing” “Palestine” would better direct their criticisms toward the Palestinian Authority, which tyrannically governs daily Palestinian life in the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”), and Hamas, until recently the iron-fisted dictatorship in Gaza.
If we’re discussing apartheid, it’s noteworthy that while 2 million Arabs live free in Israel, no Jews are allowed in Palestinian-ruled lands. In fact, in Palestinian-ruled territories, even selling land to Jews is punishable by death.
While like every Western democracy, Israel is a work in progress that strives constantly to correct its imperfections, it is, according to many Israeli Arabs, a veritable paradise.
Israel is, for its Arab citizens, the complete opposite of apartheid. Apartheid, which originated in South Africa, separated blacks and whites in public spaces, transportation and residential zones, and it denied most civil liberties to its black citizens. Nothing could be farther from reality in Israel.
The scope of civil rights guaranteed to Israeli Arabs, as well as other non-Jews, is unparalleled in the Arab Middle East and North Africa. All citizens of Israel are guaranteed basic rights consistent with a modern democracy, including equality before the law, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, women’s rights and rights for sexual minorities (i.e., LGBTQ+). Women’s rights are rare in the Arab world, where wife abuse is legal in many places, and LGBTQ+ rights are non-existent.
Like other democracies, Israel holds free and fair elections. All citizens are eligible to vote and hold office. Although some Arab states such as Jordan and Kuwait hold elections, there are many restrictions and no path to regime change, regardless of who wins.
Israeli Arabs have served at every level of power in the country—as Knesset members, cabinet ministers, and Supreme Court justices. Khaled Kabub, a Muslim Arab, is currently a Supreme Court Justice. A previous Supreme Court Justice, Salim Joubran, a Christian Arab, was once chair of Israel’s Central Elections Committee, the body that supervises Israel’s elections. None of this would be possible if Israel were an apartheid state.
No wonder Yoseph Haddad, a prominent Arab Israeli activist and former soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces, wrote: “I am thankful to have been born in the State of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.”
“Israel is the best country for Arabs living in the Middle East,” according to Yahya Mahamid, a Muslim Arab, IDF veteran and activist. One reason is that Israel boasts opportunities for its Arab citizens that don’t exist in Arab states. Indeed, Israeli Arabs participate in all levels of Israel’s economy and society.
In fact, Israeli Arabs predominate in certain professions. Whereas Arabs represent 21% of Israel’s population, they make up 25% of Israel’s doctors, 27% of its dentists and about half of its pharmacists. More Arabs than Jews are homeowners, and Israel’s rate of employment for women is higher than in almost every Arab country. Furthermore, the unemployment rate for Israel’s Arab citizens—2.8% in 2025—dwarfs unemployment in most Arab states.
Furthermore, although Arabs (except Druze) aren’t required to serve in the IDF, thousands do, including Ella Waweya, a Muslim Arab, who heads the IDF’s Arabic media division and holds the rank of lieutenant colonel, the fifth-highest rank in the IDF.
Israeli Arabs live in freedom, while “Palestinians” suffer under dictatorship. Whereas approximately 2 million Israeli Arabs enjoy the fruits of democracy, their fellow Arabs in Palestinian-ruled territory languish under regimes that oppress and brutalize them on a daily basis.
Like all non-Israeli citizens, Palestinians living in Judea and Samaria, and Gaza are not governed by Israeli law, but by autocratic dictatorships. Indeed, in the Palestinian-ruled territories, neither basic rights nor rule of law exists. Torture, arbitrary arrest, censorship and even summary executions are commonplace.
Nor is democracy practiced. Elections haven’t been held in the Palestinian-ruled territories since 2006. Mahmoud Abbas, the 90-year-old head of the Palestinian Authority, is now in the 20th year of his four-year term, and though he has repeatedly promised new elections, he has never delivered.
Non-Muslims, mostly Christians, in Palestinian-ruled territory are subject to severe persecution. Not surprisingly, since the Oslo Accords were signed in the 1990s, the Palestinian Christian population has nosedived. Even in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, Christians have been reduced to a tiny minority, while Jews are entirely prohibited from living anywhere in the Palestinian-ruled territories.
El-Sayed lied: Israel isn’t perfect, but it’s a paradise compared to Arab states. Thus, it’s not surprising that, according to a 2025 report by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), 67% of Israeli Arabs consider Israel a good place to live—slightly more than the 65% of Jews who said the same.
Anyone who claims Israel is an apartheid state would be wise to: 1) heed the words of Israeli Arabs themselves, who sing the praises of the Jewish state; and 2) examine the facts, which prove Israel is an oasis of freedom and prosperity for Arabs in a region mostly characterized by tyranny and poverty.
Originally published by Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME).
