Study: Arabs may be poorer, but Jews get more welfare funds

The government spends more in welfare on the Jewish sector that it does on Arab citizens, even though the Arab population has a higher rate of poverty, according a report issued by the Sikui Association for the Advancement of Equal Opportunity on Thursday.

According to official data examined by Sikui, the state spends an average of NIS 378 on each Jewish citizen and only NIS 246 on each Arab citizen – a discrepancy of 35 percent, although there are three times as many Arab families under the poverty line as Jewish families.

When adding the amount of welfare spent by bodies such as the local authorities, the gap remains the same: The average Jewish resident receives NIS 493 from the state while the average Arab resident receives NIS 328 – a discrepancy of 34 percent.

[...] Awad notes that Arabs fill only 4 percent of managerial positions, even though the average education level of Arab managers is higher than that of most Jewish managers.

Ha’aretz gives “Poll: 50% of Israeli Jews support state-backed Arab emigration” as a related topic.

[...] The poll, conducted by the Geocartography Institute and presented Tuesday at a press conference, found a sharp increase in the number of Israeli Jews who support Arab emigration in comparison to a similar poll conducted last year.

[...] The poll participants were also asked about work relations with Arabs. 50 percent said they would refuse to work at a job in which their direct supervisor would be Arab. This number represents a 47 percent increase since the 2005 poll on the same topic.

[...] Awdeh offered his explanation for the deterioration of Jewish-Arab relations, saying the war in Lebanon, and the opposing views it generated among Jewish and Arab citizens, could have contributed to the deterioration. Another reason could be the entry of Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu) to the coalition, being a politician known for his anti-Arab views.