Do Israelis help their fellow man only at times of catastrophe or war, such as the earthquake in Nepal or Operation Protective Edge? Does the tendency of Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE)-listed companies to refrain from donating to the public welfare reflect popular attitudes in Israel? A survey by "Globes" and the Hakol Kalul (Everything's Included) television program gives complex answers to these questions.
Researchers in their twenties pretending to be beggars were stationed for five hours in three locations in Israel: around the Jerusalem central bus station, at the Azrieli intersection in Tel Aviv, and in the Nahalat Binyamin open-air mall in Tel Aviv. The researchers asked for money, while portraying themselves as needy people begging for donations.
Past probes have shown that donations to Israel come mainly from two sources: wealthy people in the US and average people in Israel, who donate far more than wealthy people in Israel.
In the current project, in Jerusalem, simple people - people walking in the street, some of whom are not well off themselves, and those traveling on buses, rather than in luxury cars - did not hesitate to create eye contact with street beggars.
Most passersby showed interest, and those who did not give money offered to share their food with the young female beggar. This empathetic behavior extended to all ages, and was especially prominent among soldiers. At the end of the day, the beggar-impersonating researcher left Jerusalem with an hourly average of NIS 60.
Starting in April this year, the minimum gross hourly wage for an adult worker in Israel has been NIS 25. A simple calculation, excluding the various salary components, shows that a beggar "earns" NIS 10,320 a month in 172 hours.
Passersby at the Azrieli intersection exhibited diametrically opposite and disappointing behavior. Beggars were almost completely ignored. The female researcher averaged only NIS 20 an hour. Most passersby demonstrably ignored her. Some of them told her to get a job, while others - mainly small children - pitied her, and gave her money.
At the Nahalat Binyamin open-air mall, a reasonable amount of interest was shown. Donors were diverse: small children, who asked their parents for money to give to the beggar; young people; and shoppers at the nearby open-air market - in short, Israelis. The female researcher came away with an average of NIS 40 an hour, while a male researcher managed to collect NIS 35 an hour.
To sum up, Jerusalemites donated three times as much as people at the Azrieli intersection, and showed more generosity and empathy for the female researcher.
Few donations by public companies
The report also included figures for donations by public companies in 2014. It found that 85% of the companies donated less than 1% of their profits to philanthropic causes.
Among the banks, Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT) donated 6.2% of its profit in 2014, while Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI), Israel's largest bank, controlled by Shari Arison, supposedly a philanthropist, gave only 1.1% of its profit.
Insurance and financial companies were conspicuously stingy. Poalim IBI Underwriting and Investments Ltd. (TASE:PIU), the most generous of them, donated 2.7% of its profit, while Menorah Mivtachim Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MORA) was in last place with only 0.1% of its profit.
The biggest giver among the real estate groups was Alfred Akirov, which donated 4.5% of its profit, while Azrieli Group Ltd. (TASE: AZRG) gave only 1.5%.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 6, 2015
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