The city of Umm al-Fahm, the third-largest Arab city in Israel. Photo: Moataz1997 via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Seventy-three percent of Israel’s Arabs feel a sense of belonging in the Jewish state and 60 percent are proud to be Israelis, according to a new poll commissioned by Israel Hayom and conducted by the New Wave Research Institute.

The poll questioned 426 Arab Israelis ages 18 and up. Nearly two-thirds of respondents (65 percent) define themselves as not religious, while 35 percent say they are religious. Forty-six percent identify as Israeli Arabs and 42 percent identify as Palestinian Arabs, while only 3 percent identify as Israelis.

Almost three-quarters of respondents (73 percent) believe that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is about land, while 19 percent feel it is about religion.

A total of 60 percent of those surveyed say they are “very proud” or “fairly proud” to be Israeli, while 37 percent say they are “not proud.”

Most of the Israeli Arabs polled say they believe that Jews have historic and religious ties to Israel. Eighty-two percent say they have no desire to live under Palestinian rule, while 14 percent say they do.