A five-year development plan for the Arab community was prepared by the representatives of the Arab minority, in cooperation with the Mossawa Center, which, demanded NIS 32b to bridge the gaps between the Arab Community and Israel’s Jewish Population. The government approved ministerial plan allocates less funds to fewer sectors. The Prime Minister’s Office did not release any specific numbers for the deal (according Mossawa’s data, the plan is likely to allocate NIS 9.5b. to 10b. over five years, in the best case). In comparison to that, Arab communities need 6.4 billion NIS annually to close the existing gaps, the government proposed allocations are only 2 billion NIS, and it is unlikely Ministers like Miri Regev, Uri Ariel and Yisrael Katz will make any changes with out the additional funds.
The Mossawa Center fears that the approval of the plan is more for public relations and will not manage to bring substantial change for the living conditions of Arab Community.
The plan falls short of the needs of Israel’s Arab population and is very vague. Mossawa is very skeptical about the deal, also considering that previous five-year plans since 2000 have not been implemented. We fear the very same to happen to the new development plan especially because the 2016 budget is already allocated, meaning the money still needs to be found for it.
The Mossawa Center has been working on analyzing the state budget and formulating the needs of Arab citizens for the last 15 years. This year Mossawa organized two conferences in the Knesset on the state budget. The state budget, which was approved on November 19th for two years totals 800 billion NIS. The budget ignores almost all of the needs that Mossawa has noted over the years as well as the recommendations of the staff of the Ministry of Finance, which were formulated during the last election period and submitted in it's report in August before the state budget was approved. The finance staff pointed to large gaps resulting from discrimination in education, vocational training, welfare, employment, cultural services, infrastructure, transport and housing. Recommendations from the staff were not submitted to government representatives for fear that the settlers and the extreme right would attempt to thwart what was meant to help not only the Arab population but the country's economy in general.
Senior economists in the country and in the business community now understand that national economic growth will come from the Arab community, especially given the fact that the Haredi and settler communities are unlikely to change their employment patterns. Even the Israeli high-tech industry is aware that is it more profitable to accept talented Arab employees and engage them in production rather than send work oversees, but even on this subject NGOs such as Tsofen which, raise funds from overseas are forced to do the job of the government.
The government's plan, which was publicized one month after the approval of the state budget, takes care of only a small part of the existing discriminatory budget mechanisms. Real change depends on the goodwill of Ministers such as, Miri Regev, Yisrael Katz and Uri Ariel. Our experience proves that without additional funds Ministers do not act to carry out the recommendations of the Finance staff. Mossawa has petitioned against the Ministry of Culture but discrimination persists while solutions are delayed. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Uri Ariel is doing nothing to help the Bedouin in the Negev despite the overwhelming need.
We hope this government decision was not meant for Netanyahu's public relations. Economists from the international community expect that the growth potential of the country's Arab citizens will be utilized. A country that accepts and returns tens of billions of shekels in loans from the international community needs to work on finding its internal potential. Every year over 10,000 Arab citizens leave the country to study in universities in Jordan and the oPt because of discrimination in the establishment of higher education institutions in Arab towns the Arab community spends their holidays in hotels in Jordan, Sinai, Bethlehem and Turkey because of wide spread discrimination in tourism in Nazareth and Jisr Zarqa.
The heads of Arab local Authorities are faced with discrimination in development budgets, housing shortages, home demolition orders and widespread unemployment. The burden of providing solutions to poverty, culture infrastructure, employment and housing falls on the heads of local councils instead of the government. It is time that the government ends its one tracked concern for only the Jewish community and the settlements and takes full responsibility for the future of all its citizens.
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