The next Welfare Minister will have a key role to play in coping with the economic crisis. Some advice for the person supposed to help us live in dignity.
The article was originally published in Hebrew on the Israeli NRG news site on February 25, 2009.
By Hagai El-Ad, Executive Director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)
Some economists claim that the Israeli economy is entering the current crisis in a relatively good position compared with other countries. They might be right, but then again, they might not be; meanwhile, the record number of those joining the ranks of the unemployed in recent months already looks ominous. In any case, one thing is clear even before formation of a new government: The new Welfare Minister, saddled with much of the responsibility for coping with this crisis, will have to do so with a weakened, cut-back, and privatized ministry. A ministry like that can’t cope with the challenges at hand. Here are three key challenges:
Life in dignity: The so-called “income assurance” allowances will become critical for more and more Israelis as the crisis deepens. The perception that education and a job are enough to ward off poverty is not applicable to the current crisis.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) petitioned in the past against cutbacks in these allowances, believing that there is a basic dignified subsistence, anchored in universal human rights, that is not subject to compromise. This standard should not be held hostage to coalition caprices or arbitrary Budget Division decisions. ACRI has asked the Welfare Minister to establish an inter-ministerial committee to re-examine the subsistence allowances that were arbitrarily cut in recent years, and has also asked that these decisions be anchored in law. This request is more important than ever so that the state not shirk its responsibility toward its citizens in such core aspects of human dignity. The right of everyone to live in dignity must be protected – and realized.
Support for the unemployed: Tens of thousands of Israelis have lost their jobs in recent months, and the economic situation is only worsening. These people and their families need and deserve a safety net, especially if the crisis continues.
Bit by bit, over the course of several years, unemployment insurance payments have been reduced in Israel on the theory that the lower these become, the smaller and briefer will be unemployment compensation, thereby cutting the number of people without a job. This dubious theory is certainly irrelevant in the present crisis in which the difficulties of finding a job are rooted in the economic situation itself and not in theories about the motivation of the unemployed to go out and get a job. In light of the growing waves of unemployment, new thinking must be applied to protecting the rights of the jobless.
Privatization of welfare services: The welfare services have not been immune from the epidemic of privatization, but the suffering caused here is amplified. First, the workers who are privatized are harmed as they are now subject to the exploitation of subcontractors. As a direct result, services they give the public are undermined.
We must halt the unraveling of the safety net within the Welfare Ministry, be respectful of the public servants in welfare and those they serve, and make possible a situation in which professional workers with suitable employment conditions provide quality service to those in need of welfare assistance.
Longing for a Strong Leader
If no significant change takes place in Israel’s welfare policies and budgets, the result could be disastrous not just for the unemployed and poor, but for democracy itself. We have witnessed, after all, how dire economic straits, the dissolution of social solidarity, and yawning social gaps provide fertile ground for the neglect of democratic values and the growth of fascism.
For us in Israel, the sense of existential threat (among both Jews and Arabs – each community with its own traumas and history), incitement against minorities, and longing for a “strong leader” have been with us from before the economic crisis. A minister who succeeds in setting authentic and responsible welfare policies will play a significant role in this dangerous period, not just in preserving social bonds, but in safeguarding the very life-breath of our democracy.
