was constructed in such a way that none of the Palestinian population would be added to Israel, and no land reserves would remain for the Palestinian enclaves. Since the plan did not involve any negotiations with the Palestinians, but claimed to bring "peace and security" to the Israeli citizens, it was able to exploit the growing Israeli longing for a solution.

86 The general attack of the Sharon government and the army leadership on the population of the occupied territories (extension of the setdements, establishment of new settlements called "outposts", building the "separation fence" and settlers-only "bypass roads", incursions of the army into Palestinian towns and "targeted liquidations", demolition of homes and uprooting of plantations), on the one hand, and the lethal Palestinian attacks inside Israel on the other hand, put the Palestinian citizens of Israel in an intolerable position.

87 The natural inclination of the Arab citizens of Israel to help their brethren on the other side of the Green Line conflicts with their desire to be accepted as equal citizens of Israel. At the same time, the fear and hatred of the Jewish population in Israel against all "Arabs" was growing and threatened the foundations of equality and civil rights. These processes came to a head in the events of October 2000, immediately after the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada, when the Israeli police opened lethal fire on Arab citizens.

88 These processes, together with the re-emergence of the "demographic problem" on the Israeli agenda, cast new doubt on the "Jewish and democratic state" doctrine. The internal contradiction between these two attributes, which has not been resolved since the founding of the State of Israel, neither in theory nor in practice, is more conspicuous than ever.The exact meaning of the term "Jewish State" has never been spelled out, nor the status of the Arab-Palestinian minority in a state officially defined as "Jewish".The demand to turn Israel into a "State of all its citizens" and/or to give defined national rights to the Arab-Palestinian minority is being heard more and more, and not only from Arab citizens.

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