**1. Introduction**

The Arabs in Israel are a numerical minority and a sociological minority at the same time. They are a sociological minority because this is a population society that is not represented in the political elite, neither in the military elite nor in the country's economic elite, and therefore deprived of the national dominant group. The Arab population, as mentioned above, constitutes a numerical minority, since the Arab population today numbers more than 1.8 million people, 21.10% of the total population [1], and the Arabs became more than two-thirds of the population. The Arab citizens were forcibly isolated from Palestinian culture and from the Arab world, causing total destruction of their urban centers, the middle class, and the educated elite that might have continued to nurture Palestinian Arab culture were expelled and their communities destroyed [2]. In 1948, 150,000 students studied, two-thirds in a state school, and one-third in a private school The Arab population was left with no infrastructure for the creation and nourishment of Arab culture and without channels for the Arab mother culture, the first channel for the Arab world was opened after the 1967 war after the opening of the borders and additional channels were opened following the peace agreements (**Table 1**) [3–5].

The Arab population is heterogeneous (Muslims, Christians and Druses), very diverse and needs are different within the education system, as well as in other areas. Arab society consists of urban populations living in Arab and mixed cities and villages (some of which are not recognized by the authorities for national political reasons), and groups with different socio-economic levels, different cultural norms, different levels of religiosity and tradition, and different levels of education and higher education In terms of geographical distribution in 2020, approximately 51.6% of the Arab society residents live in the northern part of the country - the Galilee and Haifa districts, 19.7% in triangle region, 17.5% in the Negev District and the mixed cities 8.5% (**Table 2**) [6].

The interests of Israeli governments are primarily the result of political and security problems, primarily the conflict with the Palestinians, which is manifested in frequent violent confrontations. As a result, successive Israeli governments have reduced their ability to act, and especially their budgetary capabilities. The result is a


#### **Table 1.**

*Population of Israel by population group [6].*


*Haddad et al. [6]. Statistical report on Arab society in Israel. The Israel democracy institute, Center for Democratic Values and Institutions.*

#### **Table 2.**

*Arab citizens by area of residence (End of 2020 and not including East Jerusalem).*

*Perspective Chapter: Higher Education in Arab Minority in Israel – Challenges and Struggles DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109455*

decline in social services provided by the state: education services, higher education, health, welfare and social security. The government expenditure (including local authorities), which includes 41.2% of gross domestic product in 2014, places Israel in close contact with countries in Eastern Europe and countries with a tradition of low government expenditure such as New Zealand and Canada, and the unavailability of long-term plans To increase the rate of entitlement to a matriculation certificate, to increase the student population or to include it among the general population of Israel, and especially the Arab population that is disadvantaged by the "start-up nation" [7].
