Israeli Economy - Essay Example

Module Israeli Economy: Ethnic Considerations and the Jewish Israeli nation dis One of the transformations that havetaken place in the short timeline of Israel is in its ethnic composition. This is with the once dominant Ashkenazi-western immigrants having to accommodate Sephardic-Mizrahi from Middle-Eastern and North African nations, Ethiopian Jews and immigrants of Soviet origin. Another key issue that is observable in Israel is its state as a nation, with historiography researchers and other observers documenting the Jewish state/Israeli nation discourse. These two issues are discernible in all socio-economic and political aspects of Israel. This study will focus on the ethnic considerations in regards to the economy of the Israeli state as well as the Jewish state/Israeli nation discourse that accompanies it. The role of religion in economy will also be discussed. The approach of this study will be through first providing a brief background on the historical ethnic composition in regards to Ashkenazi and Sephardis and then detailing the historical and contemporary perspectives of the issues in question before concluding with a look at how Post-Zionism may respond to the issues addressed in the essay. Ethnic Background on Israel (Ashkenazi/Sephardi) Tsur (231) discusses the distribution of Jews in the pre-Zionist era, stating that Jews could be viewed geographically as European (residing in Europe) or Afro-Asian (residing in North Africa and Asia especially in the Middle East). With this categories established, it is then observed that the Zionist migration into Palestine at the time of establishment of the Israeli state (1948) was heavily inclined towards European Jewry with majority of the immigrants streaming in from Eastern Europe in comparison to those from North Africa and the Middle East. This pre-Zionist categorization spawned the major ethnic classification Ashkenazi and Sephardi that have later characterized the socio-economic and political landscape of Israel. Although it is difficult to define Jewry, the Ashkenazi Jews are the ones who originated from European nations. Originally, Ashkenazi referred to Jews from Germany who had settled in Eastern Europe and spoke Yiddish. Sephardi, on the other hand, referred to Jews from the Iberian Peninsula who had also settled in the Ottoman Empire. The two nuclei origins of Jews later incorporated other Jews, with those from Eastern Europe and later from America ascribing with Ashkenazi while those from Islamic North African and Middle East countries identified with the Sephardi (Tsur, 232; Dowty 1-3). Hence, the Zionist migration largely featured Ashkenazi Jews, with the changes all aspects of the Israeli society following showing elements of the two ethnic inclinations as is the subject of the rest of this discussion. Historical Perspectives on Ethnic Economic Considerations Kaplan notes that the immigrants from Asia and Africa (the Sephardi), generally began their lives in the new state at significant socio-economic disadvantage as compared to the dominant Ashkenazi population. While the most of the Ashkenazi seized the numerous opportunities in the working and middle class levels due to possession of marketable skills, advancement in education and considerable favour from the authorities, the Sephardi had to make do with low income jobs and settled in marginal neighbourhoods and settlements that were largely economically non-stimulating. Kaplan also indicates that economic inequality was further compounded in the entire first generation of Ashkenazi and Sephardi born in the state of Israel as the Sephardi traditionally had larger families which strained the already limited resources available. The manifestation of this ethnic disparity in historical economic terms can be seen in the statistics available on incomes, distribution of occupation and education before 1975. By 1956-1957, the Sephardi averagely earned 73% of what the Ashkenazi earned increasing to 82% by 1975. When the large Sephardi families are taken into consideration, the average per capita income among the Sephardi falls drastically to 48% of that of the Ashkenazi by 1969. The ultimate result in terms of poverty indicators show that the percentage of the Sephardi in the bottom 20% of the income scale (lowest income groups) was 30-32% while that of the Ashkenazi was 9-12% during the 1960s and 1970s (Kaplan). When the distribution of occupations is taken into consideration, it is noted that only 19.8% of the Sephardi were in white-collar jobs by 1954 as compared to 42.9% of the Ashkenazi Jews. The figure for the Sephardi rose to 32.2% in white collar occupations by 1975, but this considerably pales when compared to 57.7% of Ashkenazi Jews who occupied white collar jobs by the same year. This occupational polarization was also particularly evident in professional ladder even after both sets of Jews had found their way into white collar jobs; for instance, the Ashkenazi predominated in the academic and scientific institutions while the Sephardi occupied most of the unskilled jobs. Education is an important determinant of ultimate average incomes and occupations hence should also be taken into consideration when discussing the economic inequalities between the two Jewish ethnic backgrounds. In terms of years of achievement in education, the Sephardi had only 64% of the education of the Ashkenazi by 1961, later rising to 72% by 1975 which translates to a difference of over two years. In a pyramid-like representation, the Sephardi Jews were also observed to reduce in percentage as the level of education went higher. While they consisted 59.9% of primary school students in 1972-1973, the figure fell to 49.5% in high school and more drastically to 14.8% of the population in university education. by the end of 1975, only 53.8% of Sephardi children between 14 and 17 years attended secondary school while 70.6% of all Ashkenazi children within the same age group attended secondary school (Marshall 160). In summary, the statistics above indicate that the Ashkenazi Jews enjoyed better opportunities and sources for wealth since the inception of Israel in terms of the relevant indicators; income, per capita household earnings, occupations distribution and education. The main explanations provided for this include their low political and policy influence and low level education and thus absence of skills for white collar jobs. Thus, the historical perspective of the economic conditions in Israel is indicative of ethnic disparities in favour of the Ashkenazi. Contemporary Economic Disparity in between the Ashkenazi and Sephardi The first thing to note in modern-day Israel is that the shifts in immigration rates have largely changed the population demographics of the state characterized by immigration from approximately 103 different countries of Jews speaking more than 70 different languages (Marshall 157). The general result after the changes in immigration and identifying with either side of the two ethnicities is that the Sephardi population had grown to over half the total population of Israel before the arrival of Soviet Jews in the 1990s (Jacoby 86). However, economic disparity between the two groups remains one of the most critical issues facing the state in modern times, as Dowty (129) observes that political domination of the Ashkenazi results into discriminatory policy such winding down of marginal factories in poverty-stricken towns inhabited by poorly educated and low income Sephardi populations. Marshall (157) observes that the Ashkenazi- Sephardi distinction has even in modern day become euphemistic for descriptions of poverty, the underprivileged and the educationally disadvantaged as these considerations follow the two ethnic patterns. Swirski (5) contributes views on the economic disparity on ethnic terms in Israel by first observing that the nation’s macroeconomic indicators whilst impressive do not accurately depict the situations in the country; the nation still has one of the highest levels of poverty and inequality as well as low achievement levels in international educational tests. 75% of Israeli employees earn less than a third of the higher earners. Swirski (5-6) observes that the low income households are mainly composed of Sephardi Jews whose marginalization and difficulty in adaptation during the early years of Israel’s timeline has been perpetuated to the modern times. As a result, the socio-economic gaps persist as one of the defining characteristics of the Israeli community today, with the urban employed Sephardi Jews earning about 40% less of their Ashkenazi Jews counterparts. The former are outperformed by the latter in terms of education and fewer of them attend secondary school and university education. One of the most important indicators of the economic disparity in modern-day Israel is the geographical distribution of the Ashkenazi and Sephardi in relation to economic opportunities. It is observed that majority of the Sephardi Jews still reside in marginalized peripheral regions of the state where they were occupied during their initial immigration. Those Sephardi not in such area do not fair better, being distributed in poor towns referred to as developmental towns such as those in Galilee and Negev (south and north respectively) while those in major cities occupy the poor areas of such cities for instance in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem (Swirski 7). The marginalization in terms of geographical distribution is further supported by research into the issue, with Adler et al1 economic inequalities between the Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews continues to persist due to their differential distribution. The researchers established that Sephardi poverty could be directly associated to their predominant distribution in the developmental towns in Israel which were observed to be bereft of economic opportunities. They concluded that peripheral distribution in Israel provides less favourable opportunities compared to other localities in the state and that the spatial distribution of the Ashkenazi and Sephardi influenced their opportunity structures and thus sustained the ethnic economic disparity observed in Israel. Semyonov and Lewin-Epstein’s2 study also concurs that there are considerable economic disparities in the state of Israel on several levels, one of them being in terms of ethnic considerations. The scholars established that there were two major determinants that had led to persistence of the economic disparities; income flows and inheritance in relation to the position of each ethnic group in Israel. In terms of the education as a determinant of wealth distribution in contemporary Israel, Dahan et al3 established that there were significant differences in eligibility for the matriculation certificate based on ethnic backgrounds, with the Ashkenazi Jewry having a higher rate of eligibility when compared to the Sephardi Jews (51% for the former and 73% for the latter as of 2003). As an indicator of the educational disparity still happening and bound to continue for lengthy periods into the future, the rates for the second generation children in Israel show greater disparity at 80% rate of eligibility for the Ashkenazi Jews compared to only 46% for the Sephardi Jews. The literature reviewed above indicates that the historical economic disparities between the Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews have persisted and are quite evident in contemporary Israel. The Ashkenazi still enjoy better incomes, occupations and education opportunities when compared to the Sephardi. Importantly, it is noted that the disparity in education is growing, which translates to persistence of the economic disparity well into the future. Some of the explanations provided for persistence of disparity include the geographical distribution of Sephardi Jews in opportunity-barren regions and inheritance of wealth. Dowty (116-129) argues that successive Israeli governments over the years have contributed to the economic disparity being observed as the governments fail placed this issue at the top of their agendas. He also notes that the governments have mostly responded to political pressures exerted by sectoral and ethnic groups in deciding political considerations that then favors some groups over others. The Role of the Jewish State/Israeli Nation Discourse Among the multiple issues facing Israel and the entire Middle East region is the issue of establishment of a Jewish state that would replace the original democratic intentions in creation of Israel in 1948. According to Kop4 this issue has taken on a political discourse pattern and drawn strong arguments both for and against with the latter believing this is a way of ensuring historical justice prevails while the former argue that a theocracy may instead lead to destabilization of the already volatile security in the Middle East. In relation to the current study, it is of interest to determine how the economic disparity between the Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews has influenced Jewish state/Israeli nation discourse over Israel’s timeline. The considerations of this touch on the political dispensation in Israel as influenced by the economic disparity under question It is worth noting that at inception, Israel embodied the concept that Jews comprised one nation and that the nation that had been set aside was the true home of the immigrants. This was particularly demonstrated by the nation’s Law of Return in 1950 which every Jew from around the world had a right to immigrate to the country. Hence, Kaplan establishes that absorption of Jews into the new nation was less of a humanitarian activity and more of the Zionist goal of reuniting Jews from around the world. Such a background provided for elements of agitation for a Jewish state which would gain support from across the ethnic groups as they were faced with common problems. However, the economic disparity between the Ashkenazi and the Sephardi can be argued to have watered down the Jewish state discourse as this ethnic group sought to fight for economic rights with the foe being the largely Ashkenazi authorities. According to Kop,5 Israel’s timeline has seen the Sephardi attempt to establish partisan political camps, with considerable success being achieved through the Shas which in 1999 garnered 17 seats in Knesset thus becoming the third largest parliamentary party. The Shas is an embodiment of protest against the Ashkenzi and is predominantly Sephardi. This pursuit of a political avenue to advance economic fortunes by the Sephardi can be said to take away from common interests in Jewish statehood. The Role of Religion Religion plays a limited role in the economic disparity between the Ashkenazi and the Sephardi Jews in Israel with its importance rather being in the Muslim-Jews relationship. Instead, the element of religion in this inequality stems from the religious differences between the Ashkenazi and the Sephardi. Their non-monolithic background resulted in the two groups developing certain differences in their religious practices that are in existence to date, with converts selecting to follow either. Thus, the Ashkenazi and the Sephardi can also be categorized according to religious practices besides the geographical background classification. Some of the differences in religious practices, for instance, stem from the Ashkenazi from America who were in contact with secularism while the Oriental Sephardi were in contact with the Arab world. Seclusion of the original Ashkenazi in Germany also means that they developed different religious practices (Kaplan). Hence, evidence lacks to suggest that religion influences the economic disparity between the Ashkenazi and the Sephardi. Post-Zionism influence Economic Disparity and Conclusion With the irrefutable historical and contemporary economic disparity between the two main ethnic communities in Israel, Post-Zionism has been suggested as a way out. According to Selby6 Post-Zionism is embedded in the view that the mono-cultural identity that was sought at inception of Israel has given way to pluralism and multiculturalism instead; hence the idea of monolithic Israeliness has lost meaning translating to Zionism being bypassed by time. In relation to this study, it is noted that economic marginalization of the Sephardi by the Ashkenazi authorities has erupted into anti-Zionism by new generations of Sephardi Jews which is in line with the scholarly view of Post-Zionism. The historical socio-economic and political humiliation and discrimination has transformed several Sephardis into Post-Zionists with the view that Zionism will only deepen their economic woes (Wurmser 2-5). Post-Zionism may lead to toning down of the economic disparity through being inclusionary of all residents in the Israeli area and reduction of dominance by the Ashkenazi in socio-economic and political angles. Works Cited Adler, Irit, Lewin-Epstein, Noah and Shavit, Yossi. Ethnic Stratification and Place of Residence in Israel: Atruism Revisited. Research in Social Strati?cation and Mobility, 23 (2005), 155–190. Print. Dahan, Momi, Dvir, Eyal, Mirocheniv, Natalie and Samuel, Shye. Have the Gaps in Education Narrowed? On Factors Determining Eligibility for the Israeli Matriculation Certificate. Israel Economic Review, 2 (2003), 37-69. Print. Dowty, Alan. Critical Issues in Israeli Society. USA: Praeger, 2004. Print. Jacoby, Tamy A. Women in Zones of Conflict: Power and Resistance in Israel. Canada: McGill Queen’s, 2005. Print. Kaplan, Jonathan. Ethnicity and the Socio-Economic Gap in Israel. Jewish Agency for Israel, 2011. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. Print. Kop, Yakov. Nation-Building, Pluralism and Democracy in Israel. Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, (2003), 21-28. Print. Marshall, Edgar S. Israel: Current Issues and Historical Background. NY: Nova Publishers, 2002. Print. Selby, Jan. Post-Zionist Perspectives on Contemporary Israel. New Political Economy, 10.1 (2005), 107-120. Print. Semynov, Moshe and Lewin-Epstein, Noah. Wealth Inequality: Ethnic Disparities in Israeli Society. Social Forces, 89.3 (2011), 935-959. Print. Swirski, Shlomo. Israel in a Nutshell - A Different Introduction to Present Day Israeli Society and Economy. Adva Center, Tel Aviv, 2011. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. Read More