In May 2006, a group of experts in language education from Europe, Canada and Israel gathered to discuss and reflect in a conference entitled: "Into the Future--Towards Bilingual Education in Israel." The conference, held at the University of Haifa, was initiated and organized by the Jewish-Arab Center and sponsored by the Zeit Stiftung from Germany. The participants were change agents in each of their respective countries and held a critical view of the changing world, in which the clash of cultures and religions--as represented by languages--calls for brave action via education. Thinking, talking and acting to create bilingual schools in Israel, where Arab and Jewish children learn together and communities of teachers and parents act on the grounds of mutual respect and equality for the Hebrew and Arabic languages, cultures, and narratives, is a revolutionary act within the Israeli educational system. The discussions in the conference motivated this paper. The authors deal with the educational system in Israel from a critical socio-political perspective. They critically discuss its segregation and examine the option of shared-bilingual education as an alternative to the reality of separation. The first part of the paper generally presents some aspects concerning the historical perspective of the segregated educational system in Israel as a reflection of the make up of the state's society. The second section deals with the development of pedagogies throughout the years. The last part examines the new framework of bilingual education in Israel and its vision for becoming a model for the Israeli society as a whole. (Contains 3 notes.)