Just 6% of public sector employees are Arab

MK Tibi: Low numbers result of discrimination. Knesset speaker: Cause irrelevant, we must concentrate on solution. In Knesset only 6 of 439 employees Arab

Sharon Roffe-Ofir|Published: 05.04.10 , 15:05

Only 6% of Arab Israelis are employed in the public sector, compared to 20% in the general population, according to data presented in the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee on the Integration of Arab Employees in the Public Sector.

The committee presented a report to the Knesset speaker which reveals that only six of 439 Knesset employees are Arab. "The Knesset is supposed to be a model of equality, but unfortunately the current Knesset has not employed Arabs," said Committee Chairman MK Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al).

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During the previous Knesset, Tibi initiated the establishment of the committee to cast light on the number of Arabs employed in the public sector and thus engender change.

"We directed a spotlight on these distorted figures which have become rooted over the years," he said. "Now we must issue targeted tenders to change this undesirable and dishonorable situation."

The data presented in the committee were collated during many meetings with the prime minister, ministers and the heads of government, public and private bodies. The data reveals that in some government ministries and companies the number of Arab employees is between 1% and 2%.

'Undesirable, dishonorable' – MK Tibi (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

For example, in the Prime Minister's Office only 1.3% of employees are Arab, in the Finance Ministry 1.4%, in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Labor less than 2%, and in the Ministry of Housing and Construction just 1.8%.

In Israel Electric Corporation and in the Water Authority, 1.3% of employees are Arab.

'Cause irrelevant'

"The rate of Arab employment in the public sector is the result of structural discrimination expressed in policies of pushing Arabs to the side and distancing them from the decision-making and public resource-distribution centers," Tibi said. "Not by chance are there no senior Arab civil servants, no deputy managers in the ministries, no legal advisors."

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin (Likud) said, "This committee is a real step meant to bring Jews and Arabs in Israel closer out of an understanding that they are the bridge for solving the conflict in the Middle East."

"There are real gaps between Jews and Arabs in Israel. The reasons are irrelevant, but the solutions are. The government does not need a ministry for Arab affairs, but rather, each minister needs address the Arab population in earnest in the framework of his ministry," asserted Rivlin.

According to Minister of Minorities Avishay Braverman (Labor), his ministry has agreed with the Finance Ministry to fund additional posts for members of minority groups. Braverman said his ministry is expected to launch a campaign to raise awareness among minorities for participation in the tender.

According to various government decisions about increasing the number of Arab employees in the public sector, the percentage of Arabs in this sector will be increased to 10% by 2012. However, the committee also noted in its report that the current government, which committed itself to this target, will be unable to meet it.