Coming of age? On the professionalisation of social work in Israeli-Arab society in the new millennium

Abstract

The article traces social work’s development in Israel’s Palestinian society from 2007 until a reform of the welfare bureaus in 2018, based on primary and secondary written sources, interviews with Palestinian social workers employed at the time, and a survey of social workers throughout the country’s Palestinian local authorities. Despite gains, social work in this society continued to face historical government-based obstacles to its professionalisation, namely, significantly reduced resources compared to its Jewish counterpart, absence of the Palestinian narrative in service provision and lack of Palestinian representation in policy formulation. The result was a continuing dual welfare system: one for the country’s Jewish citizens; and a significantly more restricted one for their Palestinian compatriots.