Punishing Israel’s Arabs – and Good Governance |
I’m still recuperating, a week after encountering the Times of Israel headline: “Social Equality minister roundly panned for plan to divert Arab economic development funds.” Shocked, of course, by the minister’s intention – but also encouraged by the criticism it aroused.
The importance of advancing the second five-year plan (2021-26) to empower Arab society in Israel is an issue that I have referenced frequently in this blog. There’s no doubt in my mind that this program, designed to close socio-economic gaps between the country’s Jewish majority and its Arab minority, is a social justice imperative that actually works – as demonstrated by rising levels of Arab income, employment and educational achievement in the past few years.
I therefore breathed a sigh of relief when learning a few days after seeing the headline that the Prime Minister decided his office would directly manage the 1.8 billion shekels targeted for diversion. That figure is basically the residue not exhausted this year (for various reasons); most of the program’s allocations will continue to be implemented by relevant government ministries in the coming fiscal year.
The ostensible rationale for the diversion attempt was to move money into........