A vital national challenge

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz sounded the alarm this week on the most important of Israel's social problems: the meager participation of ultra-Orthodox men and Arab women in the workforce. People who stay home or study Torah instead of being gainfully employed and who maintain themselves and their families using welfare payments instead of earning a living are a millstone around the Israeli economy's neck. They prevent it from reaching its true growth potential, and the problem will only get worse. Around half our first graders today are from the Arab or ultra-Orthodox communities, and the proportion of these communities in the population is expected to rise further.

Steinitz portrayed the ultra-Orthodox and Arab women as if they were voluntarily poor, not going to work for cultural or traditional reasons. This is only partly true, and painting the picture this way lets the government avoid the problem. A more accurate depiction came in the recently published Ono Report, which described the enormous difficulties faced by Arab, ultra-Orthodox and Ethiopian-immigrant university graduates hoping to join the workforce. Most companies avoid employing them, or if they do, prevent them from advancing their careers. Discrimination is most evident in advertising, television and finance.

The worrying conclusion is that even those who have made the effort to shake off the bonds of tradition and have acquired higher education are not wanted in the labor market, and that those who do find jobs are stuck at the bottom of the ladder. They are cut off from social networks that are often based on army service, from which Arabs and the ultra-Orthodox are exempt. The Ono Report revealed that employers are often prejudiced: Arabs are considered nationalist, ultra-Orthodox separatist and Ethiopian Jews undeveloped.

No national task is more vital than integrating these communities fully into the workforce to boost economic growth, reduce poverty and ease social tensions. The state need not combat tradition and religion, but it must offer incentives for change. Education and vocational training must be encouraged, through subsidies if necessary; legislation should be considered to introduce affirmative action in employment; government allowances for children and yeshiva students should be cut; national-service as well as military tracks should be available; quotas should be set for appropriate representation in public bodies and state-supported institutions; and the public must be educated in tolerance, openness and getting to know the other.

Suppressing the problem and blaming the poor for their condition will only put off the solution, intensify the distress and hasten Israel's social fragmentation.