Nadim Rouhana, who grew up as a Palestinian in Israel, draws on surveys, interviews, and archival research to examine how the Palestinian identity has evolved in response to Israel's three guiding - and conflicting - principles: Israel as a Jewish state, as a democracy, and as a state with deep security needs.

He discusses the consequences of Israel's ideology, policy, and practices toward the Arab minority; the effect of major developments in the Arab world, particularly in the Palestinian communities in exile and in the West Bank and Gaza; and the impact of changes within the Palestinian community in Israel such as demography, level of education, socio-economic structure, and political culture.

Arguing that in a multiethnic state, conflict becomes inevitable unless citizenship emerges as a common and equally meaningful identity to the various ethnonational groups, he concludes by exploring the possibilities of negotiating a new and common identity between Israel and its Arab minority.