The results of Israel's general elections have shown that Arab-led parties can emerge as kingmakers this time.
Israel is a country of Jews, so how come there is such a large population of Muslims here?
When Israel became a country in 1948, millions of Arab people living in this area left their homes.
Those who remained here were later given citizenship by the government. And now they are called Arab Muslims.
Arab Muslims are the largest minority community in Israel. They are different from the Arab Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
People of Arab origin constitute about 20 percent of Israel's total population.
Legally, Arab citizens have the same rights as Jews. But there are also religious, cultural and social differences between the two communities.
About 80 percent of Israel's minority population are Muslims. The rest are Christians and people from the Druze community.
Many of these Arab Muslims associate themselves with the Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israel calls itself a Jewish and democratic country. However, critics do not agree with this.
The Israeli government states, "Arab citizens have the same civil and legal rights as Jews. However, Arab citizens are generally exempted from mandatory military service."
Different military service rules apply to certain groups, including men from the Druze community.
According to a report published in BBC News, an Israeli Arab MP has said on Israel's system, "For Jews the country is democratic, while for Arabs it works like a Jewish state." Many people of the Arab community also describe themselves as 'second class citizens'.
These news related to inequality have also been raised in government investigations and international reports.
The 'Or Commission' formed in 2003 had found in its investigation that the government's attitude towards the Arab community was discriminatory.
Similarly, a report by the US State Department states that Arab citizens face legal and social discrimination.
The largest population of Israeli Arabs is settled in Northern Israel. Cities like Nazareth, Umm al-Fahm and Sakhnin are its main centres.
Additionally, many people also live in mixed cities such as Haifa, Jaffa and Acre, where both Arab and Jewish communities live together.
The land of the Arab people who left their homes after 1948 was taken over by the Israeli government. According to the Orr Commission, this land was very large.
In the report, the commission also said that subsequent policies led to the loss of land for even more Israeli Arabs.
It is difficult to gather accurate figures related to this, but according to advocacy groups, Israeli Arabs constitute about 20 percent of the total population. But, they own only 3 percent of the country's land.
Since 1948, no new Arab Muslim cities have been established except Bedouin townships.
Whereas the Israeli Arab population has increased at least seven times.
According to the Orr Commission, many Arab settlements are surrounded by army posts, Jewish Regional Council, national parks and highways. Because of this, their path of expansion stops.
According to advocacy groups, about 160,000 Bedouin Arabs, or nomadic Bedouin groups, live in the Negev in southern Israel.
About half of these live in unrecognized settlements, which are cut off from basic amenities.
More than half of Israeli Arab families live in poverty. This figure among Jewish Israeli families is about 15 percent. This difference is continuously increasing.
According to the Mossawa Advocacy Center, government development funding to Arab communities has been cut every year except one for the past several years.
Municipal services in many Arab areas are also weaker than in Jewish areas.
There are fewer classrooms, roads are old and there are very few employment opportunities at the local level.
Some Israelis blame the low collection of municipal taxes in Arab areas for this discrimination.
Mossawa Center believes that some Arabs are unwilling to pay taxes in exchange for poor services.
Also, the Center says that in these areas there are less factories, businesses and government offices which fill the municipal coffers of other areas.
According to the US State Department, Israeli Arabs are underrepresented in most employment sectors.
According to the Mossava Center, "Only eight percent of employees in government offices are Israeli Arabs. Of the 70,000 employees of high-tech companies, only 300 are Arabs."
Additionally, there is no government-funded Arabic language university in the country.
According to the Mossawa Center, at least 20 laws openly discriminate against Arabs. Israeli Arabs have not received official minority status.
Arabic is an official language, but it does not have the same status as Hebrew. Muslim and Christian festivals are not national holidays, while Jewish festivals are.
One of the most controversial laws is the 'Citizenship Act of 2003'. Under this, Palestinians from the occupied West Bank or Gaza who marry Israelis are generally not allowed to come to Israel.
This ban applies to women below 25 years of age and men below 35 years of age.
Palestinians older than this are allowed to reside only temporarily.
On this law, Israel says that it is necessary for security. At the same time, Arabs say that this law discriminates.
Land is another difficult issue in Israel. About 93 percent of Israel's land is owned by government or semi-government organizations.
It is given on lease to citizens. Of this, 13 percent of the land is held by the Jewish National Fund, which was created specifically to purchase land for the Jewish homeland.
Advocacy groups say that in fact even today it is difficult for Israeli Arabs to lease most government land.
Israelis were under Arab military rule until 1966. Independent Arab political parties were also formed only in the 1980s and 1990s.
There are members of 13 Arab parties in the 120-seat 25th Knesset in Palestine.
Arabs are often called the 'fifth column' in Israel. This happens especially when tensions with Palestinians increase.
Some Israeli Arabs do not participate in national elections. Two reasons are given for this.
First, they feel that their vote will not change anything. Second, they do not want to recognize the Israeli state.
The Orr Commission was formed after the riots of 2000. In its investigation, the commission had found that police lapses, discrimination and inflammatory statements of Arab leaders were responsible for this incident.
The previous right-wing government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu also included a minority minister.
The government had announced a $40 million fund for joint public-private investment in minority businesses.
