The Arab leadership in Israel: Ascendance and fragmentation

This article describes the rise of a second generation of Arab political leaders in Israel as seen in the proliferation of explicitly Arab political parties (nationalist and Islamist) and Arab NGOs (secular and religious). While more representative of Israel's Arab community than the its predecessors, reflecting the community's growing national consciousness, the new leadership is also more fragmented. The author acknowledges Israel's active efforts to weaken the new leaders, but asserts that fragmentation has also resulted from continuing traditional structures, including extended family, a culture of notables manifested in the personalization of institutions, and patriarchy, particularly the political exclusion of women.