Navigating the Intersecting Divide: The Role of Induction and Mentoring in Negotiating National and Cultural Tension for Palestinian Teachers in Jewish Schools

This qualitative study explores the induction experiences of Palestinian Arab novice teachers in Jewish-majority schools in Israel during a period of intense national tension (2023–2025). Amid ongoing teacher shortages in the Jewish sector and a surplus of qualified teachers in the Arab sector, Boundary-Crossing Teaching (BCT) has become a notable phenomenon. Using semi-structured interviews and reflective journals of 23 beginning teachers and eight mentors, the study investigates how minority educators navigate cultural and political divides in a conflict-affected society. The findings reveal that during periods of heightened tension, teachers’ professional identity is often overshadowed by ethnic suspicion, leading to a “dual burden” of professional and national representation. The data shows that teachers navigate national ceremonies through “strategic ambiguity”—performing outward compliance (e.g., standing for the siren) while maintaining internal identity boundaries. Furthermore, the study identifies a paradox in language dynamics: while Palestinian Arabic is often “securitized” and viewed with suspicion in staffrooms, teachers successfully leverage their linguistic background as “intercultural capital” to build empathy with students. The research finds that shared-identity mentors provide an essential “third space” for processing experiences of racism that are otherwise silenced within the school hierarchy. These empirical results demonstrate that teacher retention in conflict zones requires active institutional protection to prevent professional status from collapsing into national categorization.