Israel's Declaration of Independence addressed Arab inhabitants and neighboring Arab states in separate passages. It appealed to Arab inhabitants to preserve peace and participate in building the state “on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation” in its provisional and permanent institutions. To neighboring states, it offered peace, good neighborliness, cooperation, and mutual help. Those are the document's words; it does not say that citizenship depended on choosing to remain. The Knesset's official presentation summarizes the appeals, and the complete text preserves their wording.
The appeal to Arab inhabitants
The declaration says: “We appeal—in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months—to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.” This is an invitation to take part in the new state, paired with a stated promise of equal citizenship and representation. The passage does not name particular offices such as a parliament or judiciary.
The commitment sits alongside the document's broader declaration that Israel would ensure complete equality of social and political rights for all inhabitants regardless of religion, race, or sex, and guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education, and culture. The Knesset's educational guide identifies equality among the Declaration's central principles and notes that 37 representatives signed it. The Knesset guide to the Declaration provides this concise institutional overview.
The offer to neighboring states
A distinct passage extends “our hand to all neighbouring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighbourliness.” It calls for cooperative ties and mutual help, and says Israel is prepared to contribute to the advancement of the Middle East. This was a diplomatic appeal to governments and peoples beyond Israel's borders, not a condition attached to the citizenship promise made to Arab inhabitants.
The Declaration also appealed to the United Nations to help build the state and receive Israel among the nations. The document thus combined internal civic promises with requests for international acceptance and regional relations. Its citizenship and equality language is part of the founding text; the declaration alone does not narrate how those commitments were later implemented. For the full structure and historical claims, read what the Declaration says, and for the leaders who signed it, see the signatory roster.