Putting Israel’s Periphery in the Center | Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)

Illustration by Noa Olchovsky

ACRI warns: The gaps between the center of Israel and the periphery have reached an all-time high, as a result of the government’s policy.

The number of people with diabetes is 4 times higher among the poor than among wealthier groups; the highest rate of those eligible for a high school diploma was in the wealthy city of Raanana (76%), while in Lod eligibility was less than half that figure (37%); the number of families living in poverty in the periphery is 3 times higher than in the center; the rate of job-seekers in the southern city of Kiryat Gat is 3 times higher than in Tel Aviv.

Yesterday (28 august 2011), a protest march has left the Yeruham local council in the south of Israel, heading towards the residence of the Prime Minister in Jerusalem. The protest march is led by Michael Bitton, Head of the Yeruham Local Council, and by Amram Mitzna, who headed the appointed committee in Yeruham. The purpose of this march is, among other things, to raise public attention to the socio-economic plight of the residents of Israel’s periphery. The Association for Civil rights in Israel (ACRI) warns that the periphery has very sound reasons for its outcry: data collected by ACRI shows that in various aspects of life, the inequality and the wide gaps between the center and the periphery are increasing.

According to Attorney Tali Nir, Director of the Social and Economic Rights Department at ACRI, “the economic logic, upon which the Israeli economy if founded, is based on the assumption that market forces will generate a trickle-down effect from the rich to the rest of Israel’s citizens. But this trickling is limited and meager. Thanks to the economic growth, wealth has been accumulated – but it is concentrated on a few tables in Israel’s center and does not reach the south, the north, or the residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods in the center.

“This is an inequality-promoting policy. The current socioeconomic policy helps those who are powerful to become even more powerful, and those who are weak to become even weaker; those who are in the middle are gradually weakening, and the middle is gradually vanishing. Unfortunately, in recent years the term ‘periphery’ has begun to serve as a euphemism for the term ‘the majority of the citizens of Israel,” says Attorney Nir.

So how wide are the gaps between the center and the periphery? Below are various figures that were collected by ACRI:

Health:

Center	Periphery
In 2008, in the Tel Aviv area 5.5 doctors were employed per 1000 persons.	In 2008, in the north of Israel, 1.6 doctors were employed per 1000 persons, and 2.1 in the south.
The rate of expert physicians among doctors employed in the community was 72% in Israel’s center, and specifically 82% in Tel Aviv.	The rate of expert physicians among doctors employed in the community was 58% and 57% in the north and south regions, respectively.
The rate of individuals with no private or supplementary health insurance (only public health insurance) in Israel’s center is 11%.	The rate of individuals with no private or supplementary health insurance (only public health insurance) is 31% in the Jerusalem area and 23% in Israel’s north.
6% of the residents of the center had to forgo an appointment to a physician in 2008 due to its cost.	16% of the residents of the north, 12% of Jerusalem residents, and 10% of the residents of the south had to forgo an appointment to a physician in 2008 due to its cost.
The rate of diabetes among the wealthy population is 4%.	The rate of diabetes among Ethiopian immigrants is 17% (in Ethiopia it was close to 0); the rate of diabetes among the poor population (regardless of ethnicity) is over 16%.
Average life expectancy in the wealthy city of Raanana is 83.7 years.	Average life expectancy in Nazareth, an Arab city in the north of Israel, is 75.7 years.

Education:

Center	Periphery
In 2009, the rate of those eligible for a high school diploma in wealthy communities was 66%.	The rate of those eligible for a high school diploma in development towns was 47.3%; among Arab citizens of Israel, the rate was 34.4%.
the highest rate of those eligible for a high school diploma was in the wealthy city of Raanana – 76%.	The rate of those eligible for a high school diploma in the disadvantaged city of Lod was 37%.
In the 2008-2009 academic year, the rate of B.A. students among 20-29 year olds in Tel Aviv was approximately 20%.	In the 2008-2009 academic year, the rate of B.A. students among 20-29 year olds in Or Yehuda was approximately 9%.

Poverty:

Center	Periphery
In 2009, the poverty rate among families in the center of Israel was 13%.	In 2009, the poverty rate among families in the Jerusalem area was 33.7%, in the north 32.3%, and in the south 23.6%.
In 2009, the poverty rate of children in the center of Israel was 19.4%.	In 2009, the poverty rate of children in the Jerusalem area was 56.5%, in the north 47%, and in the south 40.8%.
In 2009, the rate of workers being paid less than minimum wage was 36.5% in the center and 38% in Tel Aviv.	In 2009, the rate of workers being paid less than minimum wage was 45.7% in the Jerusalem area, 44.9% in the north, and 44.1% in the south.

Employment:

Center	Periphery
In 2009, the average wage of employees in Israel’s center was the highest in the country – NIS 9217.	In 2009, the average wage of employees in Israel’s north was the lowest in the country – NIS 6747. The average wage in the south was NIS 7130.
In 2010, the rate of job-seekers in the Tel Aviv area was 3.1%.	In 2010, the rate of job-seekers in Kiryat Gat was 10.4%.
In 2007, 57% of workers in the high-tech industry resided in Tel Aviv and other cities in the center, and 61.1% of them worked in the center.	In 2007, 5% of workers in the high-tech industry resided in Jerusalem and its surroundings, and 5.3% of them worked there.