Judging by the yearbook of Arab society published by the Israel Democracy Institute, we are in the midst of a revolution in Arab society, certainly in everything related to education, with a dramatic increase in the number of students in academia – and especially among women. The change in the field of higher education then has effects on the field of employment and other areas of life.
This revolution is being stopped by the reverse negative movement of the sections of Arab society that have been left behind, and these in turn fuel the problem of crime and violence that has arisen in recent decades in Arab society and has reached its peak in recent years.
The yearbook was edited by Dr. Nasreen Haddad Haj Yahya, Dr. Muhammad Khalaila and Dr. Arik Rudnitzky and shows that education figures are the ones that bring optimism: the matriculation rate has risen in the last decade: from 47.7% in the 2009/10 school year to 63.9% in the 2018/19 school year, although there is still a gap compared to the Hebrew education system, which also recorded a significant increase from 61.8% to 73.1% during this period.
The revolution is evident in higher education: the rate and number of Arab undergraduate students in academic institutions in Israel has almost doubled in the last decade from 10% (22,268) in the 2010 academic year to 18.3% (43,454) in the academic year 2020. The rate and number of Arab graduate students has increased almost Three, from 6.5% (3,270) in 2010 to 14.6% (9,252) in 2020. The proportion of Arabs studying for a PhD rose from 3.9% (413) in 2010 to 7.3% (855) in 2020.
The rate of first degree recipients in Arab society rose from 10.3% in 2007 to 13.6% of all students in 2019. In the second degree, the increase is much higher: from 4.9% in 2007 to 12.4% in 2019. In the third degree, there is an increase from 2.8 % In 2007 to 6% in 2019.
Arabs are flocking to high-tech
The most significant increase is in computer science students from 6.9% in 1999 to 16.3% in 2019. Accordingly, there has been a sharp increase in the proportion of Arabs employed in high-tech professions in recent years. In absolute numbers, the number of Arab high-tech employees increased almost threefold between 2012 and 2019, from 2,200 to 6,100.
In addition, there has been a significant increase in the proportion of Arab students studying medicine from 8.2% to 12% and in the paramedical professions from 10.8% to more than a quarter (26.7%) in these years. At the same time, there is an increase in the proportion of teaching students, from 11.8% in 1999 to 22% in 2019.
There is also a real change in the employment of Arab women, even if it is still at a very low rate relative to Jewish women. From 2001, when the employment rate of Arab women was 19.8%, and until 2018 – the employment rate almost doubled and reached 38.2%.
But what stands out from the yearbook data that relies on the CBS, the National Insurance Institute, the local authorities and also associations such as the Galilee Association and the Abraham Fund, is that the gaps with Jewish society are still large.
Thus, despite the increase in the average nominal wage between 2018-2008 among the Arab population, the increase in the Jewish population was greater and the gaps between the populations widened.
The gap between Arab and Jewish women widened in those years, with the average wage of Jewish women being higher than that of Arab women, rising by 56% in 2008 to 61% in 2018. Among men, the gap narrowed from 85% in 2008 to 77% in 2018 in favor of Jewish men. In any case, in both genders the wage gap for the benefit of the Jewish population is very high.
The reasons for the gaps
A major reason for the gaps is the data on education: 77% of the Arab population have a low level of education (up to a matriculation certificate, inclusive), and only about 15% have an academic degree, compared to the Jewish population, about 33% of whom are academics. At the same time, the employment and occupation industries are another major factor in the wage gap. Almost half of Arab men are employed in the construction, trade and hospitality industries, where the average wage is low. Arab women are also concentrated in employment industries where wages are lower than average. About half of Arab women work in education or health and welfare services.
In the field of quality of life and standard of living, the yearbook shows that 95% of the Arab localities, in which almost 90% of the Arab citizens live, are in the four lowest clusters socio-economically, 11% of which are ranked in the lowest cluster. In contrast, only 17% of Jewish localities are in the lowest clusters, 1-4.
Household Expenditure: The average monthly expenditure of the Arab family increased significantly from NIS 6,924 in 2004 to NIS 9,340 in 2017, according to surveys by the Galilee Association. This increase is reflected in almost all areas. Thus, the expenses associated with housing increased from NIS 761 (11% of the expenditure basket) per month to NIS 1,230 (13.2% of the expenditure basket), and expenditure on transportation and travel increased significantly from NIS 862 (12.4% of the expenditure basket) in 2004 to NIS 1,589 (17% of the expenditure basket) in 2017.
Product ownership: In 2004 only 36% of Arab families had an air conditioner at home, compared to 87% in 2017, in 2004 only 64% of Arab families had a private car, compared to 83% in 2017. There was also an increase in the proportion of Arab families having Satellite dish at home, from 67% in 2004 to 91% in 2017.
The larger flow of funds than before brings results
Dr. Muhammad Khalaila, one of the three authors of the yearbook, tells Globes that the influx of universities and colleges points to the growing importance of higher education in the eyes of Arab society and the family.
He said this also has to do with status as a national minority. He agrees that for the five-year plans, the one that began in 2016 and the one that is now beginning an important part of the revolution – the greater flow of funds than before brings results. He says that the professional echelon in government, less political, understands that investing in Arab society in education and especially in higher education promotes the whole country and therefore the great importance he sees in it.
Dr. Khalaila points to the profound change among Arab women who make up a significant majority of Arab students. The rest will increase in the divorce rate. “
Dr. Khalaila also points out the failures – “There are too many young people who come to colleges for teaching studies as a kind of default. “In the north, there is a saturation of teachers and it is difficult to find employment, so teachers travel to the Negev every day to teach in schools there, or move there.” The lucrative and high-tech professions should start in elementary school and continue in high school.
It should be noted that exactly in this direction are some of the plans included in the five-year plan, and they are expected to start operating in the coming months and especially from next year.
Violence has reached its peak – there is no governance and no sovereignty
The yearbook shows what we already knew: the violence and crime in Arab society reached real highs. The shooting incidents in Arab society for 2020 accounted for 92% of all shooting incidents in Israel this year, and stood at 1,673 – a significant deterioration from 921 shooting incidents in 2017 (an increase of 44%).
The number of detainees among the Arab population in 2020 was 27,598, which constitutes about 60% of all detainees in Israel. This is compared to 15,326 among the Jewish population, which constitute 33%.
The number of cases actually opened against Arabs is lower and stood at 38% of all cases in 2020, and is significantly higher than their share in the population.
Dr. Khalaila says this is the result of decades of lawlessness during which the police and law enforcement agencies themselves kept an eye on and caused the development of “extra-territorial” areas of criminal organizations when the authorities have no sovereignty and no governance.
He says that the claim of some Israeli politicians that there is a partly correct cultural aspect to this, and in the existing culture there is a certain encouragement to aspects of violence. But he says this is only a small part of the reasons for the phenomenon. The criminal organizations became protected due to the failures of the law enforcement system (untouchables) and if caught they paid a very low price for their actions and the crime became very lucrative.
Another reason he cites is the credit crunch in the Arab society that Globes we discussed, and it causes households and businesses to rely on gray market loans controlled by criminals and criminal organizations. It should be noted that within the framework of the five-year plan, there is an attempt to bring about a solution to the problem, but even after months of discussions, no agreement was reached by the parties.
Dr. Khalaila admits that in recent months there has been a change in the area he attributes to Homeland Security Minister Bar-Lev and especially to his deputy Yoav Saglovitch. “The total abandonment of decades will not be resolved in two days but this trend must continue and the test of the reality of this change is in lowering the data of violence at the end of the year and in polls that will show that the Arab public has more personal security,” he says.
Dr. Khalaila presents an interesting analysis of the two parallel phenomena, the rise in education and the rise in violence. The standard of living and the shortest way there is by joining the criminal organizations.These are the fertile cushion of enlisting to be the soldiers of the criminal organizations that provide them with employment and wages.