Mohammed Magadli: "I have changed"
Channel 12 commentator told Nadav Perry about the Shin Bet's approach to Netanyahu after October 7: "There is an opportunity here to integrate Arab citizens who also have hostages, some of whom were murdered"
In a comprehensive conversation dealing with the complex reality of life for Arab citizens in Israel, Channel 12 commentator and head of the news division at Radio Nas, Mohammed Magadli, addressed a series of issues occupying the entire Israeli society on Nadav Perry's podcast from All in.
Attitude toward the state and the events of October 7
Magadli addressed the difficult feelings and the uncontrolled turn that occurred in Arab society following the terror attack, and brought the assessment of a historian who spoke with him: "This year is the hardest year that Arab citizens in Israel have gone through."
In a detailed description of the initial period, he detailed the unusual identification data that emerged in polls:
"Very close to October 7, you saw that Arab society was in a place where, in my opinion, for the first time in history, if you looked at the data and polls, the percentage of identification with the State of Israel, its symbols, its issues, reached almost 80% — it's crazy. Now, this was... I can tell you that officials in the Shin Bet approached the Prime Minister, ministers, and Knesset members and told them: 'Friends, there is a historical opportunity here, this is the time to act to take this opportunity and integrate the Arab citizens who also have hostages, some of whom were also murdered on October 7, received missiles and everything, this is the moment to take them and integrate them into the Israeli story.' And it didn't happen."
Magadli revealed the conversations he held with the chairman of Ra'am, Mansour Abbas, immediately upon the outbreak of the massacre: "I remember the first conversation with Mansour... he calls me and I tell him 'Mansour, nobody cares what you think about this now, like, what do you want to issue a condemnation, leave it, there is a war.' And he tells me 'It is very important, I want to issue it. The Jews need to understand, the Jewish public, that we are not part of this event.'"
And later, when asked about the change that occurred in Abbas and his political path, Magadli shared a personal statement: "He once told me a sentence that I think is very important: 'Do you think this process didn't change me just as it didn't change Bennett and Netanyahu? I changed along the way.'"
Crime and violence in local authorities
On the civil and daily level, Magadli presented a serious and shocking picture of the consequences of criminal organizations in local authorities, including Nazareth, where residents and businesses deal with threats, extortion, and direct harm to daily life:
"It's unbelievable... you go to open a new business in Nazareth, you arrive, open it, put the merchandise, everything is good and nice, two days later a guy on a scooter comes to you and says: 'Listen, we are organizing security here so that you won't be harmed...'. You tell him 'I don't need security, thank you very much.' Oh, you don't want to, okay, fine, in the evening you no longer have the storefront, they shoot 100 bullets at this thing. The next day he returns and says: 'Listen, what do you say now? You filed a complaint with the police and nothing happened with it' — he starts paying because otherwise he has no business there or he closes the business... It's just like every adult Israeli remembers the days of the Second Intifada when you were afraid to sit in a cafe or get on a bus in Jerusalem, it was Russian roulette to get on a bus in Jerusalem, now in my opinion these are the lives that many Arabs in Israel live, unequivocally."
