This article presents a manifesto to discuss how bilingual--Hebrew-Arabic--education can work for Israel, challenging its reality and changing it. It presents the new comprehensive programme for bilingual education initiated and operated by the Jewish-Arab Centre at the University of Haifa, discussing it in the light of both theory and practice. This article consists of three parts. The first part outlines the Israeli educational system, describes its curriculum and refers to attempts to set up bilingual schools and projects in Israel. The second part reviews some theoretical aspects of bilingual education and offers new perspectives for analysing it. The last part deals with the new programme for bilingual education in Israel, examines its meaning and goals, and discusses possible models for promoting the programme.