The Israeli Village

THE ISRAELI VILLAGE:
A Snapshot of a Divided Society

“Social change.” “Social justice.” “Equal rights.” All of these high-minded phrases describe the work of the New Israel Fund family. But occasionally it is helpful to re-state the basics – in this case, the basic facts about what Israel really looks like as a society.

With this in mind, we have taken a look at Israel as if it were a village with 100 residents. How would such a village look?

• The village would have 76 Jewish residents, 20 Arabs and 4 "others
• Somewhere between half and three-quarers of the Jews would favor moving the Arabs out of the village.

• Three foreign workers would be living in the village temporarily..
• Every five years, two of these three migrants would be expelled from the village, with two new temporary workers brought in to take their places.

• The village would have 49 male residents and 51 female residents.
• The men would earn 58% of the village income, while the women would earn 42%.

• The 100 residents of the village would possess 113 cellular telephones
• 5 residents of the village would be illiterate.

• The village would have 27 families, of which 4 would be single-parent families
• Missiles would regularly bombard the home of 1 family in the village. The village council would refuse to take security measures to protect that home.

• The 27 families would own 28 cars and 1 motor bike
• 31 residents in the village would be continually exposed to medium-to severe air pollution that would endanger their health.

• Two people in the village would work in the advanced high-tech sector.
• One family in the village would live in a home that is not connected to running water, sewage, electricity and telephone lines because the village council does not recognize their home as legal.

• Within 2 years 1 person in the village will die, while 4 babies will be born.
• Of the 28 children in the village, 10 would be poor.

• Ten of the village’s residents would be elderly.
• Three of these senior citizens would be poor.

• Seventeen of the villagers would be new immigrants.
• Four of these new immigrants would not be allowed to marry because they are not Jewish according to the rabbinate, which controls all Jewish marriages in the village.

• Ten residents of the village would possess about 70% of the village’s capital.
• Fourteen people living in the village would earn less than $950 per month.

• One woman in the village would find it difficult to obtain a divorce from her husband who would refuse to grant her the religious divorce.
• One in five women living in the village would be a victim of domestic violence.

• There would be 34 salaried employees living in the village.
• Five people living in the village would work in academia.
• All of them would be Jewish.

• Of the 65 adult residents of the village, 59 would see the village as tainted by corruption.
• Approximately 49 residents of the village would not be willing for their children to marry a member of the Ethiopian community.

• The 20 Arabs living in the village would live on 3.5% of the land.
• Fifty-seven of the village’s Jewish residents would not be willing to have Arabs as their neighbors.

• Twenty-five men and women in the village would be living in poverty.
• Of the 65 residents of the village with voting rights, 39 of them would want a strong leader, even at the expense of the rule of law.

Forty villagers – real-life Israelis – are suffering discrimination or unequal treatment in a country founded on values of equality and justice.

Help them help themselves. Support the New Israel Fund today.