Arab-Israeli activist and former IDF soldier Yoseph Haddad, along with other panelists, spoke at the University of Maryland, College Park, on Nov. 19. This was part of an event known as Triple Down, a panel hosted by Students Supporting Israel (SSI), the Baltimore Zionist District, the University of Maryland Christians United For Israel and Together Vouch For Each Other, the Arab Israeli organization Haddad founded in 2018.

The event brought a delegation of Arab Israelis—including Muslims, Christians, and Druze—to share their personal experiences living in Israel and to challenge what they described as misconceptions about Arab-Jewish relations.

Haddad, who was born in Haifa and raised in Nazareth, told attendants that his upbringing shaped his view of shared society. 

“Football helped shape my personality,” he said, recalling how sports united Arab and Jewish children. “Through culture and tradition, it is actually a great way to bridge gaps.”

Haddad decided to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces after graduating from high school in 2003 and eventually became a commander, using this as an example to dispel what he calls the myth of Israeli apartheid. 

“I, as an Arab, was a commander over Jewish soldiers in the IDF,” he said. He later survived an anti-tank missile strike that severed his foot. After recovering, he worked as a COO at a Tel Aviv marketing firm before leaving the industry to focus on activism.

Throughout his talk, Haddad emphasized the importance of recognizing Arab Israelis, who make up roughly 20% of Israel’s population, as full participants and citizens in the country. 

“People don’t understand that we are part of this country,” he said. “We are the evidence that Israel is not apartheid. We are the evidence of the partnership between Jews and Arabs.”

He said many audiences abroad are unaware of the daily coexistence in Arab-majority cities such as Nazareth. 

“They think that the Arabs in Israel are Palestinians,” Haddad said. “I say I’m from Nazareth and people ask, ‘Is it safe there? Can Jews go there?’ Every day, Jews are there. Every day.”

He described a story about a favorite shawarma shop in Nazareth, where interactions between Jews and Arabs are routine. “We need to understand that instead of deleting us, we should be used as a bridge,” he said. “I believe Arab Israelis can help make peace in the Middle East because we know the mentality and the language.”

Another panelist, Lorena Khatneeb, a Druze Israeli, said U.S. audiences are often unaware that Arabic-speaking minorities are deeply integrated into Israeli society.

She recounted an earlier interaction that morning at a Starbucks, where a barista expressed surprise that someone from Israel spoke Arabic. “People are not aware of the fact that we have a shared society,” Khatneeb said. She added that her alma mater, Haifa University, is more than 60% Arab. “We are not trying to show a perfect Israel. We are trying to explain how we live together, how we share our reality,” she said.

Eric Rubin, president of Uncommon Charitable Impact, shared stories from his time traveling with the delegation in Nazareth. “As a Jew in Nazareth, I felt safer than in New York, Washington D.C., or Baltimore,” he said.

Haddad also spoke about the challenges of addressing threats from terrorist groups and argued that understanding the “Middle Eastern mentality” is necessary for security. “I will extend my hand for peace,” he said during his speech, “but if you extend your hand to hit me, I’m going to cut it.”

The event drew a large crowd, including students from engineering and Jewish campus groups, as well as former IDF soldier Kayam Boccara. Some attendees said they came because they had followed Haddad on social media.

Benjamin Friedman, a mechanical engineering major, said he attended to hear perspectives not often shared in campus debates. Michael Marder, an aerospace engineering student and strong SSI supporter, said the event illustrated that coexistence is a larger part of Israeli society than many students realize.

“There are a lot of people at UMD who lean toward the Palestinian side, not because of hatred of Israel but because they see Israel as the aggressor,” Friedman said. “If they come here, they can see what it’s really like for Arabs living in Israel. Arabs are no different than Jews in terms of Israeli citizenship; we coexist.”

Albert Frost, SSI’s education director, said the goal of the event was to show “the potential for unity” between Jewish and Arab Israelis, especially in the current campus climate. The program took place shortly after the UMD SGA passed a resolution discouraging IDF-affiliated speakers, though organizers said the timing did not halt the event.

“It shows that we have friends among Arabs as well,” Frost said. “It’s important for students to know that this kind of representation exists.”

For Haddad, that was the central message of the evening. 

“We are part of this country,” he said. “And we can be a bridge, not a barrier, to peace.”