UMM EL-FAHM, Israel -- Relations between Israel's Jewish majority and its Arab minority have never been warm, but they appear to have hit a new low that has activists on both sides worried the troubled relationship is beyond repair.

In the past month alone, Israeli lawmakers have introduced a series of bills that aim to marginalize Arabs. Rabbis in a northern town have urged followers not to rent homes to Arabs. Extremist Jews marched through this town and set off a violent riot. And a prominent Arab activist has admitted in a plea bargain to spying for the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah.

These repeated run-ins have threatened to turn what has long been an atmosphere of distrust into open hostilities as Jews increasingly question the loyalty of their Arab neighbors while jittery Arab residents fear they are being unfairly characterized as a threat from within.

"The Arab community is terrified. They see the legislation, they feel the atmosphere. They see the discourse and they feel insecure. They feel like they need to protect themselves," said Jafar Farah, head of "Musawa," an organization promoting equality for Arab residents. "And some of these people think they should fight back."

Arabs form about one-fifth of Israel's population of some 7.4 million. In contrast to their Palestinian brethren in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israeli Arabs hold citizenship rights that give them access to Israeli social services and other benefits. For the most part, however, they identify with Palestinians. They also tend to be poorer and less educated than their Jewish compatriots and often suffer outright discrimination.

While relations have always been cool, the situation took a major turn for the worse a decade ago after the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising. At the time, thousands of Israeli Arabs rioted for days in solidarity with the Palestinians, and Israeli police killed 13 Arab citizens while trying to quell the unrest.

For Arabs, the 2000 unrest became a symbol of their grievances. For many Jews, the events instilled doubts that the Arab community could be loyal to Israel and raised fears the Arabs could actively try to help the country's enemies. Those fears have been compounded by events since.

Israel's ultranationalist foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, led his Yisrael Beitenu party to large gains in last year's parliamentary elections by questioning the loyalty of Israel's Arabs.

Last month, Lieberman managed to win Cabinet approval for his proposal to force non-Jewish immigrants to swear a loyalty oath to a "Jewish and democratic" state. The measure, which won support from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was widely seen as a swipe against Arabs since it wouldn't apply to Jewish immigrants.

Another coalition partner proposed a bill that would allow small communities to exclude potential residents, bringing charges of racism from Israeli Arabs.

The deputy mayor of the northern Israeli town of Carmiel, Oren Milstein, meanwhile, urged residents not to rent or sell their homes to Arabs, according to local media reports. The politician's office did not return messages seeking comment.

In the nearby town of Safed, prominent rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu has warned Jews from doing the same. And last week, several dozen ultranationalist Jews marched through the hilly Arab town of Umm el-Fahm, chanting "death to terrorists," touching off clashes between rock-hurling residents and police firing tear gas.