In Israel, Arabic is spoken natively by over 20 percent of the Israeli population, predominantly by Arab citizens of Israel, but also by Jews who arrived in Israel from Arab countries. Some refer to the modern Hebrew-influenced Levantine Arabic vernacular as the "Israeli Arabic dialect" or colloquially as Aravrit, a portmanteau of the Hebrew words Ivrit (lit. 'Hebrew') and Aravit (lit. 'Arabic').
Among Israeli Arabs in central Israel, the vernacular spoken is similar to Palestinian Arabic, while the Negev Bedouin traditionally speak their own dialect of Arabic. The dialects in the northern part of the country merge with southern Lebanese Arabic. Many first-generation Mizrahi Jews and Maghrebi Jews (i.e. those who made aliyah to Israel from the Arab world) can still speak Judeo-Arabic dialects, while their Israel-born descendants have overwhelmingly adopted Hebrew as their first (or sole) language.
