The Knesset Special Committee on Young Israelis convened on Tuesday, February 14, for a follow-up meeting on the effects of the proposed cut in the budget of the five-year plan on young Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel. Committee Chair MK Naama Lazimi (Labor) said she was shocked by the proposed cutback, as the five-year plan for the Arab community is aimed at reducing crime, advancing sectoral equality, promoting tourism and increasing employment. She said, “Every shekel the state cuts today, it will pay for, with interest, tomorrow.”
MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Photo: Knesset)
Ben Farjoun of the Portland Trust said there are currently 597,000 young people in Arab society (aged 18-35), constituting 26% of all young people in Israel. This population, he said, faces a lack of personal security, a risk of deterioration to organized crime and a low probability of integrating into the higher education system. In addition, their employment prospects are limited due to their low level of education, low Hebrew proficiency levels and residence in Israel’s outlying areas. Despite a significant increase over the past few years, the rate of eligibility for a matriculation certificate within the Arab community remains significantly lower (58.8%) than the rate of eligibility in the Jewish sector (82.2%). Currently, 28% of young Arab Israelis have an academic degree, compared with 40% of Jews within the same age group who have an academic degree. Close to 47% of young Arabs do not have a matriculation certificate; 36% of young Arab-Israeli women have an academic degree.
According to MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Hadash-Ta’al), “The expected budget cut is a mega terror attack on the future of Arab society. The decisions are political, because experts have warned against them. The programs in welfare, education and preparation for employment will be dealt a fatal blow.”. Abed Shehade, an advisor to the National Council of Arab Mayors, agreed “Young people are the engine for advancement and development in any society. The expected cut in the budgets of this population is very severe, and the result will be deterioration to crime and violence.
Adv. Boaz Gur of the Arlozorov Forum estimated that the percentage of idle individuals among the young Arab population has increased from 19% in the years 2014-2018, to 34%. Sliman Al-Amour, co-CEO of the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development, said numerous programs have been shelved due to a lack of budget. “The state should invest in young Arabs just as much as it invests in young Jews,” he said. Committee Chair MK Lazimi noted that one third of all murder victims in the Arab sector in the past year have been young people.
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