Palestinians (often counted within Israel’s broader Arab population) make up roughly one‑fifth of Israel’s residents, which is about 2 million people as of the early‑to‑mid 2020s.

Who is being counted

  • In everyday usage, “Palestinians in Israel” usually refers to Palestinian Arabs who are citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel, including many who identify as “Arab citizens of Israel” or “Palestinian citizens of Israel.”
  • This group does not include Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, who are generally counted separately under the State of Palestine.

Latest population estimates

  • Arab citizens/residents of Israel (most of whom are Palestinian by identity) were estimated at about 2.07 million people in 2023, around 21% of Israel’s total population.
  • Palestinian statistics for 2025 also refer to about 1.9 million Palestinians in the “1948 territories” (a common term used in Palestinian sources for what is today the State of Israel), which aligns with the ~2 million figure.

Why numbers can differ

  • Some counts include Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights as part of the “Arab/Palestinian” population in Israel; others treat East Jerusalem separately or as part of the occupied Palestinian territory, causing small shifts in totals.
  • Israeli and Palestinian statistical agencies use slightly different definitions and reference dates, so you may see estimates ranging from about 1.9 to a bit over 2.0 million, but they all cluster around one‑fifth of Israel’s population in recent years.

TL;DR: Around 2 million Palestinians live inside Israel’s internationally recognized borders today, representing about 20–21% of the population.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.