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A danger that is not real
By Michael Anbar January 2, 2004

I have heard on many occasions over the years deep concern about the danger to Israel from its Arab minority. Israel faces many dangers, but this is not one of them.

True, most Israelis are upset with the nasty militancy of some of the Arab Knesset members who have been using their parliamentary immunity to promote a seditious agenda. Some of those MKs, who seem to take their orders from Arafat and Assad, openly support Arab anti-Jewish terrorism and advocate the eradication of the State of Israel. Israelis also remember the riots instigated by the PLO at the start of the current Intifada in several Arab towns, which resulted in the death of quite a few violent demonstrators. Those riots left a bitter taste in both Israeli Arab and Jewish communities, with an impression that Arafat also controls the Israeli Arabs.

Then there is the well-known ''demographic bomb'' scare, namely that the Israeli Arabs will soon outnumber the Israeli Jews and convert the Jewish homeland into another Arab country (Arafat's infamous dream). Taking a closer look at these concerns we will see that those fears are unjustified. They remind us of Pharaoh's ''The people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we?'' (Exodus 1:9). While being ethically and politically objectionable, these fears only add unneeded fuel to the conflict.