Last update - 00:00 23/10/2006
Only four Arabs appointed to manage gov't companies in 2006
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
This is the lowest number of new Arab directors since 2000, indicating that the government is far from implementing its decision to make the share of Arab directors in government equal to the share of Israeli Arabs in the population.
The Sikkuy Association for the Advancement of Equal Opportunity is threatening to petition to the High Court of Justice on the matter.
Sikkuy data indicates that less than 10 percent of all government directors are Arab. Of the 550 directors in all government companies, there are currently only 54 Arab directors.
Sikkuy says that by the end of the year, dozens of presiding directors are due to retire from their posts, and suggests that some of the Jewish directors be replaced by Arabs.
In order to promote the appointment of Arabs to director positions, Sikkuy has prepared a database with the names of hundreds of Arab academics. The resumes of 40 of the people on the database have been sent to government offices.
According to attorney Ali Haider, co-executive director of Sikkuy, "The government cannot claim that there are no positions available or that these is a shortage of Arab candidates. What's missing now is the government willingness and determination to make immediate changes."
Haider said that if the government will not implement its decision to raise Arab representation, Sikkuy will petition to the High Court of Justice.
In 200 the Knesset passed an amendment to the government company law, promising fair representation to Arab citizens among the boards of directors of government companies.
In 2003 the government decided that by August 2004, at least one Arab citizen will serve on each of the 105 boards of directors of government companies. The government has yet to implement that decision.