海角大神

Yasmin Diab shuttles daily between self-quarantine at her home in the Arab village of Tamra and 24-hour shifts at Rambam Hospital in Haifa 鈥� the largest in northern Israel 鈥� where she was the first doctor on the coronavirus ward when it opened in March.

Because of her work with coronavirus patients, Dr. Diab cannot have physical contact with her family 鈥� her birthday recently came and went without a hug from her parents. The stresses of work make it harder to sleep.

Still, the internal medicine resident doesn鈥檛 regret the decision to volunteer for a job that puts her and her family at risk. 鈥淚 believe this is a mission,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e are on the front line of this war.鈥�

Editor鈥檚 note: As a public service,聽all our coronavirus coverage聽is free. No paywall.

With a stethoscope draped around her neck, Dr. Diab delivered a round of poised interviews to several Israeli news shows in the early weeks of the crisis. But she is just one of the tens of thousands of Arab health care professionals putting themselves on the line in Israel鈥檚 battle against COVID-19.

Though Arab doctors, nurses, and pharmacists have over the past decade become a more familiar presence at Israeli hospitals and state-supported HMO clinics, the pandemic has shown Arab Israeli citizens in a new light: as essential foot soldiers and field commanders in the country鈥檚 struggle against the virus.

That elevated stature comes, ironically, at a particularly fraught moment in Arab-Jewish political relations.

Even as Arab Israelis, one-fifth of the population, have strengthened their parliamentary representation via a new alliance, the Joint List, they repeatedly have been the objects of hostile campaign rhetoric from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Leading up to the March 2 election, Mr. Netanyahu鈥檚 Likud party sponsored billboards that warned Israeli voters against an alternative government that would include or rely on the Joint List, which the prime minister and his allies portrayed as 鈥渢errorism supporters.鈥�

In an effort to push back on that sentiment, sponsored by Arab health care workers features a montage of portraits of Arab doctors and nurses. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about time to acknowledge: Arabs are also partners in the country. Partners in destiny, partners in governance,鈥� the commercial concludes.聽

Jewish Israeli attitudes may be evolving. Increasingly, there are calls in Israel to shift budgets from military interests to the public health battle. And there are calls to recognize the Arab Israeli contribution.

鈥淭his is the first time that Israel is conducting a war and [that] the Arab citizens have been recruited,鈥� says Eran Singer, Arab affairs reporter for Kan, Israel鈥檚 public broadcasting company, alluding to the fact that most Arab citizens aren鈥檛 obliged to serve in the army. 鈥淚t鈥檚 quite amazing that it happened so soon after the elections.鈥�

The prominence of Arabs in Israel鈥檚 health system reflects an effort by many to move into the mainstream, despite decades of discrimination and marginalization. Over the past two decades, as rising numbers of Arab youth have pursued higher education and sought to integrate among Israel鈥檚 middle class, many have chosen to become health professionals.

According to official government data published in the daily Haaretz newspaper, Arabs now make up 17% of聽the country鈥檚 doctors, 24% of the nurses, and 48% of the pharmacists.

鈥淭he system would collapse without the decisive contribution of Arab medical staff,鈥� said Raphael Walden, deputy director of Sheba Medical Center, the country鈥檚 largest hospital, in an interview with Israel鈥檚 Channel 12 television news.

Opportunity 鈥渘ot to be missed鈥�

The pandemic has broadened recognition of the Arab Israeli health care contribution to national security experts.

Noting that the fight to save lives would be 鈥渇atally compromised鈥� without Arab professionals, by the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), a Tel Aviv University think tank led by former military top brass, urged the government to create a 鈥減ositive basis鈥� for 鈥渇ull integration鈥� of Arabs in Israeli society and for 鈥渁n end to exclusionary and racist discourse and statements that call into question Arab loyalty.鈥�

鈥淭his is really an opportunity that鈥檚 not to be missed,鈥� says Meir Elran, an INSS fellow and former general who co-wrote the paper. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very difficult to find a light in this tunnel. But there鈥檚 more than a chance that this can make a difference.鈥�

Still, for all the progress achieved by Arab medical professionals, Israel鈥檚 health services are harder to access for the Arab population. Arab towns are located, on average, 聽from hospitals as Jewish towns, according to the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies.

Early on in the pandemic, it became apparent that fewer coronavirus tests were being administered among Arabs, and that informational material about COVID-19 wasn鈥檛 even available in Arabic. As of April 16, the Health Ministry reports that only about 459 of Israel鈥檚 some 12,591 COVID-19 cases, or 3.6%, come from Arab towns. The Palestinian Authority reports another 81 cases in East Jerusalem.

The underrepresentation stems from the initial emergence of the virus here among Jews who have limited interaction with Arabs,聽says聽Dr.聽Mohammed Khatib, databank聽director of the Galilee Society, a center focusing on health policy among Arabs. Israeli coronavirus policy needs to be better fine-tuned to Arab communities and lacks input from Arab public health professionals, he says.

Dr. Diab, who dons bordeaux-colored scrubs worn by the staff on the Rambam coronavirus ward, estimates that about two-thirds of the doctors on the ward are Arab. She says she considers the staff 鈥� whether Arab or Jew 鈥� like a second family. Her parents, religious Muslims, worried about the risk of infection but ultimately supported her decision to volunteer.

鈥淭hey believe that God will do what is necessary,鈥� she says. 鈥淚n the end, they trust me.鈥�

As for her Jewish patients, 鈥淚 always get smiles from them. They aren鈥檛 insulted or surprised to have an Arab opposite them. I鈥檝e never felt anyone treat me differently because I鈥檓 an Arab.鈥� While not unheard of, she says, that鈥檚 a rare phenomenon at the hospital.

Dr. Diab says she has kept in touch with Ariel Grabois, a聽ballroom dance instructor, who was one of the first patients on the ward. Released after recovering from the virus, Mr. Grabois describes the medical staff on the ward as 鈥渄edicated鈥� and 鈥渢op notch,鈥� and says he hopes the聽pandemic prompts Israelis to look beyond identity politics.

鈥淵ou have to put those things aside,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he virus doesn鈥檛 distinguish between Arab and Jew. I hope this will make people look at things differently 鈥� less in terms of [demographic] sectors.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e all in the same boat鈥�

Indeed, inside Rambam Hospital, the collegiality and collaboration among the Arab and Jewish staff is a marked contrast to the public atmosphere elsewhere in Israel, says Mogher Khamaisi, the hospital鈥檚 Arab Israeli director of internal medicine, who oversees a ward of patients with COVID-19 symptoms.

Arabs, who make up much of the senior staff, volunteered for the coronavirus work out of a sense of professional duty. 鈥淭hey want to take an active role in the effort,鈥� says Dr. Khamaisi.

鈥淚t鈥檚 true that [Israeli politicians] ignore us ... and the prime minister speaks against us. On the other hand, the doctors here do our work regardless, without expecting any favors. People should see that we鈥檙e all in the same boat and that our contribution is critical,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut I fear that in another half year, everyone will forget, and we will return to being second- and third-class citizens.鈥�

Dr. Diab sounds a more hopeful note. Lately, more individual Israelis have reached out to her on social media to thank her for her work. 鈥淭hey think that what I鈥檓 doing shouldn鈥檛 be taken for granted.鈥�

She says she鈥檚 always tried to rise above the national differences in Israel, and focus on individuals as humans instead of Arab or Jew. And while she says she isn鈥檛 particularly interested in politics, it bothers her when she hears some insist that Israel is only a Jewish state. Maybe dealing with the coronavirus will change that.

鈥淯ltimately we live in the same country, and we all need to be equal,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he fact is that we are now more equal, because we are on the front lines of the corona battle, and people are looking at us differently. I hope this isn鈥檛 temporary. I hope it鈥檚 the beginning and there will be equality between us.鈥�

Editor鈥檚 note: As a public service,聽all our coronavirus coverage聽is free. No paywall.