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Last update - 00:00 12/11/2008
Olmert decries 'deliberate and insufferable' discrimination against Arabs
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Israel News, Ehud Olmert 

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday decried the "deliberate and insufferable" discrimination against Arabs at the hands of the Israeli establishment, during an appearance before a Knesset panel in Jerusalem.

The gap between the proportion of Arab citizens in Israel and their inclusion in the state's civil service positions "arouses concern and unrest," the premier told a parliamentary commission of inquiry examining the issue.

Among the more prominent members of Knesset comprising the committee are MKs Ahmed Tibi (United Arab List - Ta'al), Reuven Rivlin (Likud), and Shachiv Shnaan (Labor).
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Panel members say that during the address, Olmert reiterated his past statements according to which discrimination against the Arab minority is the result of years of neglect.

"I feel uncomfortable with the fact that the state for many years acted improperly and should have made fundamental changes," the prime minister said.

"We have not yet overcome the barrier of discrimination, which is a deliberate discrimination and the gap is insufferable...A cycle has been created whereby on the one hand, the Arab population did not know how to establish a proper management system and on the other hand governments have denied them their rights to improve their quality of life."

By law, Arab citizens are entitled to a gradually increasing number of state employment opportunities. Last year, the government approved a measure mandating that 8 percent of all civil service jobs be manned by Arabs in 2010. The target for 2012 is 12 percent.

Nonetheless, there are government agencies who employ a miniscule number of Israeli Arabs, among them the Bank of Israel and Israel Electric Company.

"There is no argument that there were ministries and offices that did not accept Arabs," Olmert said on Wednesday. "It's terrible that there is not even one Arab employee at the Bank of Israel and at the Electric Company Arab workers represent less than one percent of all employees."

The chairman of the committee, MK Ahmed Tibi, said that during the course of its work the panel discovered a disturbing gap between the percentage of Arab citizens in Israel and the proportion of Arab employees in the public sector.

"The inclusion of Arab citizens in the public-private sector is a moral statement that must be realized," Tibi said. During the session on Wednesday, Tibi proposed that the government implement a mechanism that would expedite the process of hiring Arab workers in civil service jobs, including those in senior positions such as deputy director general and branch chairpersons.

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      1.   Did he rehearse in front of a mirror? 21:06  |  Mark Lincoln 12/11/08
      2.   How did this bastard ever wind up as PM? 21:09  |  curious 12/11/08
      3.   Crocodile tears - too late for the crocodile 21:15  |  David 12/11/08
      4.   That is the result 21:19  |  Joe 12/11/08
      5.   Priveleges come with responsibilities 21:20  |  Arie 12/11/08
      6.   What to expect after olmert`s release from prison 21:22  |  Arie 12/11/08
      7.   discrimination 21:32  |  Joe 12/11/08
      8.   olmert i am just getting to like you 21:43  |  and you are leaving 12/11/08
      9.   An Astounding Conversion 21:54  |  Bryan 12/11/08
      10.   Olmert just happens to be right about this 21:58  |  Joe Sittizen 12/11/08
      11.   Olmert STEPPED DOWN and forgetting all about it 22:09  |  Dagma 12/11/08
      12.   Olmert the town idiot 22:25  |  dmgold 12/11/08
      13.   What stopped Olmert from doing something about it for 3 years 22:46  |  Genuine Tosefta 12/11/08
      14.   Both Herzl and Jabotinsky would be ashamed 23:06  |  avramele 12/11/08
      15.   #Dagma. Do you object to Arab Israeli... 23:34  |  Maureen Ann 12/11/08
      16.   Please just go home 23:35  |  David Scott 12/11/08
      17.   I am more than able and ready to be PM of Israel. 23:57  |  Israeli Arab 12/11/08
      18.   1 Sittizen 00:16  |  Jose Marcio 13/11/08
      19.   where is the rebuttals from the other members of Kadima,or could 00:23  |  Sarah 13/11/08
      20.   where was olmert 00:25  |  franky 13/11/08
      21.   where was II 00:33  |  franky 13/11/08
      22.   Anyone recall self-serving admonishments of Falvius Josephus... 00:51  |  bat yam 13/11/08
      23.   Boy someone took this kids candy 00:55  |  Levi 13/11/08
      24.   WHAAAAAAAAAAT?! 01:20  |  Naive Arab 13/11/08
      25.   Quite right, franky. 01:26  |  Ben Alofs 13/11/08
      26.   Olmert-Israel`s First Arab-Israeli PM Stand-In 01:30  |  Gary 13/11/08
      27.   Get Real!! 01:31  |  Robert 13/11/08
      28.   Arabs don`t serve in the IDF,just like Olmert`s children 01:41  |  Absolute Sweden 13/11/08
      29.   Revenge by Olmert, a crook humanitarian: 01:47  |  17 13/11/08
      30.   PM Olmert is NOW a REAL STATESMAN 02:04  |  Ben Ari 13/11/08
      31.   #5 Israeli Arab - why not? Run 02:05  |  17 13/11/08
      32.   Olm should`ve tackled discrimination at the beginning of his term 02:20  |  Aounist 13/11/08
      33.   Anawim 05:50  |  Ibrahim 13/11/08
      34.   Kadima - Transportation Ministry Discriminates against Jews 05:53  |  Chaim 13/11/08
      35.   What`s the point? 07:12  |  An Arab Neighbor 13/11/08
      36.   Since he is no longer prime minister ... 14:45  |  Edith 13/11/08
      37.   *sigh* He might as well say that Israel is evil. 15:55  |  Matt C 13/11/08
      38.   Olmert decries deliberate and insufferable discrimination against 04:29  |  Bassel Hadi 27/12/08
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