| About MossawaOur MissionStaff and BoardDonateGet InvolvedSupportersLinks | Israeli Government Plans to invest 800 Million NIS in Arab Community18.3.2010 Israeli Government Plans to invest 800 Million NIS in Arab Community, but Implementation is Key
On Thursday, March 18th, the Israeli government released its plan to allocate 800 million NIS to the development of the Arab population. The plan focuses on the areas of housing, economic development, transportation and employment and will be implemented over a period of 5 years. Previously, only 200 million NIS was allocated to the Arab community, out of 14 billion NIS total for development.
The first phase will be conducted in 10 large Arab towns including Nazareth, Sakhnin, Umm al Fahm, ShefaHod, Maghar, Tamra, Tira, Kfar Kassem and Rahat. These towns were selected according to population and socio-economic status, and combined, incorporate nearly 300 thousand people, accounting for 25% of the Arab community Israel.
By targeting multiple areas influencing economic development, the plan takes a comprehensive approach. Currently, it envisions addressing the housing shortage in Arab communities by investing in construction projects and potentially subsidizing half of development costs. It also proposes addressing underemployment by improving transportation systems both within in towns, and inter-city connections. In order to address low female employment in the Arab sector, the plan proposes investing in early child care centers.
The Mossawa Center approves of the plan but emphasizes that it requires full implementation to bring about significant changes in Arab communities in Israel. The Mossawa Center calls attention to the history of inadequate implementation of Israeli state budget funds directed at the Arab community. In addition, only 30% of the Arab community will be directly influenced by the plan making complete implementation crucial to ensuring the plan’s influence on communities outside of the 10 target towns.
The attention towards economic development in Arab communities was spurred in part by Israel’s interest in participating in international economic trade networks. Recently, the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development,) which is currently reviewing Israel for membership, conducted an in-depth study of the country’s economic conditions, sighting the disparities within the Arab population as a key issue to be addressed for Israel’s membership to be approved. As a result of this influence, as the economic plan progresses, it is important that the international community observes and follows up on the Israeli government’s commitment to implementation. | Mossawa in the NewsEventsPress releases |
| The Mossawa Center, 5 Saint Luke's St., P.O. Box 4471, Haifa, 31043 Israel, Phone: (+972) 4-855-5901, Fax: (+972) 4-855-2772 | ||
