252 Dead: The Cost of Being a Minority in Israel
As roughly two million Palestinian citizens prepare to vote, their community faces the deadliest year on record and decades of legal inequality.
By Sophie Zhang ·
The number of Palestinian citizens killed in Israel in 2025 was 252. This figure marks the deadliest year on record for the minority group. It follows 244 deaths in 2023 and 116 in 2022. Most victims were not involved in criminal activity, according to available data.
These citizens are descendants of Palestinians who remained within the borders of Israel after the 1948 war. They now number about two million, or 20 percent of the national population. They live primarily in the Galilee, the Triangle region, and the Naqab. Approximately 80 percent identify as Muslim, 10 percent as Christian, and 10 percent as Druze.
The path to their current status began with the Nakba, a term for the catastrophe that displaced 80 percent of the Palestinian population between 1947 and 1948. Around 150,000 Palestinians stayed within the new state's borders. Many were internally displaced and barred from returning to their homes. They found themselves a minority overnight.
From 1948 to 1966, these citizens lived under military rule. This regime imposed curfews, movement restrictions, and state repression exclusively on them. Jewish citizens were governed by civilian law during the same period. A key moment of state violence occurred on October 29, 1956, in Kafr Qasim. Israeli soldiers shot 49 residents at close range after changing curfew times. The military regime ended in 1966.
Protests have marked the struggle for rights. On March 30, 1976, police killed six people during demonstrations against land confiscation. This date is now known as Land Day. During the Second Intifada starting in 2000, police killed 13 demonstrators and arrested hundreds more in solidarity protests with the occupied territories.
Legal discrimination persists under 65 laws enacted since 1948, according to the Haifa-based legal center Adalah. These laws affect housing, land, and family reunification. A 2018 Basic Law declared Israel the nation-state of the Jewish people and downgraded the status of the Arabic language. The 2011 admissions law allows committees in certain towns to reject residents based on compatibility with a Zionist-Jewish character.
The crime crisis has deepened alongside legal issues. The Abraham Initiatives linked the surge in violence to under-policing and tense police relations. In 2023, the organization reported that 50 percent of violent crime affected Palestinians, despite their 20 percent population share. Police solved fewer than 15 percent of homicide cases in Palestinian communities, compared to a 65 percent clearance rate for cases involving Jewish victims. Community representatives accuse police of enabling the illegal arms trade.
Political parties are set to play a decisive role in the upcoming election. The Joint List, formed by Hadash, Balad, and Ta’al, is running alongside the separate Ra’am party. Projections suggest these alliances will win between 18 and 20 seats. This number could give them leverage in coalition negotiations. In 2021, Ra’am’s four seats helped form a coalition that ended Benjamin Netanyahu’s twelve-year tenure as prime minister. First-time voter Asia Egbaria said she wants to stop being treated like a second-class citizen.
Source: Middle East Eye
