The number of Jewish-Arab Shared Life Education programs has expanded this school year as programs have increased in size and multiple organizations have added new programs in hundreds of public and bilingual schools across the country.

In recent years these programs have been growing in size and reach as thousands of Jewish and Arab students become part of the initiatives that promote equality, mutual respect, and broad cultural understanding. Through various models, such as shared learning and teacher integration, these programs work to foster strong partnerships and promote the integration of the Arab community in Israel.

Several ALLMEP members have been part of this expansion and have worked tirelessly to reach equality through education. Not only have the programs created by these organizations been approved by the Israeli Ministry of Education, but the Ministry has also fully adopted some of the educational models.

ALLMEP member the Abraham Fund has created several such initiatives, including the “Ya Salem” Spoken Arabic program, which employs Arab teachers to teach spoken Arabic in Jewish elementary schools. The program is being implemented in 185 schools across the country.

Another ALLMEP member, A New Way, has created a program that joins Jewish and Arab schools for 1-2 year encounter programs that focus on the arts, sports, drama and further activities which bring together hundreds of students as well as teachers, parents, and other community members.

These ALLMEP member organizations, as well as AJEEC, Hand in Hand, Neve Shalom/Wahat al Salam, Center for Education Technology, and Merchavim are all working to create successful educational models that can break down stereotypes and foster cultural and linguistic understanding between Jewish and Arab students as well as entire communities.