On May 3, the Finance Ministry released its plan for the country to end its coronavirus lockdown and return to normal. The plan includes the opening of malls, hotels and gyms and the gradual reopening of schools in the hope that all restrictions will be ended by mid-June. A state of emergency lasting almost two months and a partial mandatory lockdown were enforced in response to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, and particularly the spread of the virus in Israel. Now that an end to the crisis may be in sight, it is important to ask how it has impacted Arab-Jewish relations in Israel. Did it add fuel to the fire and fan the flames of animosity that have been spreading in the country over the past few years, encouraged by none other than the prime minister himself, Benjamin Netanyahu? Or did it actually strengthen the shaky relationship between the two communities?

The truth of the matter is that Israel has long gotten used to the idea that emergency situations (most of them based on politics or security) tend to increase tensions and exacerbate preexisting animosity between the Arab and Jewish communities. The best example of this is the Second Lebanon War. As I wrote in an earlier article in Al-Monitor, while 19 of the 44 Israelis killed in the war were Arab, the preponderant feeling at the time was that Israel’s Arab citizens were not fully part of the country or its struggles. In contrast, the COVID-19 crisis seems to have helped improve the intercommunity relationship. The fact that the virus did not distinguish between Arabs and Jews played an important role in reconciling them. So did images of Arab doctors and nurses (some 20% of Israeli medical staff are Arab) fighting relentlessly on the front lines in the battle against the virus.

By way of comparison, attitudes toward ultra-Orthodox society also experienced a shift as a result of COVID-19. The secular community was outraged at the high incidence of infection among that community, attributing it to lax attitudes toward social distancing and other measures intended to curb the pandemic’s spread. In the meanwhile, the coronavirus had the opposite effect on attitudes toward Arab citizens, and strengthened the relationship between the Arab and Jewish communities. All it took was a precursory glimpse at how the Arab community adhered to all government instructions, even shutting down its mosques and churches.

The improved relationship has extended into the holy month of Ramadan. Given the high rate of infection in the Arab community, and especially in villages in the north such as Deir al-Assad and Baanah (both of which were put under closure), the Home Front Command launched Operation Ramadan Nights. This included videos geared to the community, with verses from the Quran and quotes from the Prophet Muhammad, and even the delivery of holiday sweets directly to residents’ homes. The command also translated its website into Arabic for the occasion. As the unit's commander for Arab affairs, Col. Shams al-Fares (res.), explained, “People understand that this is a war that doesn’t distinguish between Jews and Arabs.”