The donation will turn the stadium into a unique Arab-Israeli project, the fruit of open cooperation, not between Israeli and Arab individual business people but rather between governments.

The government of Israel, specifically the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (which contributed nothing to the stadium's establishment), sought to make this project a symbol of cooperation between Arabs in Israel and the institutions of the state, a kind of compensation, if only symbolic, for its long-standing policy of discrimination, and perhaps also as a tranquilizer in light of the tragedy endured by Israel's Arabs in October 2000.

Now the government has gotten much more than it paid for: a stadium that may be named Doha Stadium, for the capital of Qatar, that will serve a team with both Jewish and Arab players and be filled by spectators whose seats have been paid for by both a Jewish and an Arab government.

If in the past, the popular slogan spoke of Israeli Arabs as a bridge between the country and the Arab states. It now appears that the established order has been turned on its head: an Arab country, Qatar, is helping to strengthen the bonds between the State of Israel and its Arab minority. The need of Israeli-Arab institutions for aid from Arab states mainly because of their low ranking on the Israeli government's list of priorities should not diminish the significance of Qatar's action.

The donation by an Arab state to Arab citizens of Israel is not something that is taken for granted in most Arab countries, in particular when the Israeli government is participating in the project. For this reason, it is no accident that it is Qatar, with an independent foreign policy that does not march in lockstep with the well-used slogans of the Arab League and is not afraid of the concept of normalization with Israel, that was quick to offer the donation.

On the other hand, it would be wise not to overturn the established order again. Qatar's political courage and its willingness to help Israel's Arabs must not be understood as exempting the Israeli government from caring for the needs of the Arab minority in sports, as in other matters.

In its games at home and abroad, Bnei Sakhnin represents Israel, not Qatar or any other Arab state, and its fans are Israeli citizens. This is how they are seen in Arab countries, whose attitude toward Israel is determined not by Israel's policy regarding its Arab population but rather by its policy toward the Palestinians in the territories.

This innovation, where for the first time ever an Arab country has taken a clear interest in Israeli citizens based on apolitical, altruistic interests rather than political ones, brings with it an additional blessing. It obligates Israel, at least in terms of Qatar, to issue a report on its policies, not only toward the Palestinians but also toward the Israeli Arabs.