'"If we, as a society, do not take steps to absorb the Arab population into the labor market, larger segments of the population will be caught up in the poverty situation. It should be noted that Israeli society cannot succeed, certainly not in the long run, if it creates large differentials, with a big sector of the population existing at a very low standard of living," said Governor of the Bank of Israel Prof. Stanley Fischer at the Third Annual Jewish-Arab Business Conference yesterday.
Fischer added, "It is clear that we must also remove labor market and cultural barriers, including anti-minorities discrimination, anti-Arab employment discrimination at all levels, as well as doing business across the sectors. The Bank of Israel, for example, after years when no Arabs were employed in professional capacities - economists, accountants, lawyers - is currently making genuine efforts to increase their chances of employment in these jobs. Tenders are passed directly to several organizations that represent those populations, and are published also in Arabic."
Fischer noted that Israel's GDP has been growing by more than 5% per year since 2004, and that this is reflected in the labor market. The unemployment rate has fallen to 7.6% from 11% in 2004, and the rate of rate of participation in the labor force rose from 54% to 57%. "Employment is of vital importance both economically and socially. Economically, because employment per se contributes to economic growth; socially, since one of the direct ways of dealing with poverty is to place those capable of working in employment. That is because there is a clear negative link between poverty and employment. In 2006, for example, the poverty rate among families with no wage-earner was about 76%; among families with one breadwinner, about 37%; and among families with two breadwinners, about 4%," he noted.
Fischer added, "Poverty in Israel, however, is closely related to Israel’s demographic features," and concentrated in two groups: Arabs and the haredi (ultra-orthodox) sectors. The poverty rate in the non-haredi Jewish sector is 13%, compared with 57% among Arabs and 58% among haredim. "This is linked to the low employment rates in those two sectors, mainly among ultra-orthodox men, and Arab women."
In addition, Fischer noted that the Arab labor force has a lower educational level that its Jewish counterpart, and employment among Arabs is concentrated in low-paid industries, and discrimination has resulted in employment and wage inequality between Arabs and Jews.
Fischer concluded, "The picture arising from the integration of the Arab population in the work force in Israel indicates the necessity to pay special attention to this issue and to find appropriate solutions based among other things on a proper system of incentives. The purpose must be to increase the participation rate of the whole Arab population and at the same time to remove the barriers to their absorption in the workplace, and this is of particular relevance to women.
"At the same time it is essential to place education as a high priority, and I mean particularly education and training in professions and skills that will help the integration of the Arab population into the labor market, especially in those industries and occupations requiring relatively high levels of skill, and which command high pay."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 14, 2007
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2007