Israeli Economy Research Articles

The Economic Impact of Tourism in Israel: A Multi-Regional Input—Output Analysis

Tourism has become one of the main export services in Israel in the last five years. The objective of this study was to estimate the comprehensive contribution of tourism to the economy of Israel and its spatial distribution. The study measured the impacts (multipliers) on three levels: direct, indirect and induced. A multi-regional input–output (MRIO) model was used in this research because of its capability to evaluate the impacts of inter-regional interdependencies simultaneously with those of sectoral ones. The results were expressed as multi-regional input–output multipliers. The authors conclude that the sum of the value-added from indirect output was 4% of GDP, and that from induced impacts was 7% of the GDP. There were differences in the impacts within and outside the regions. The analysis of multi-regional impacts through the use of MRIO enabled the authors to estimate simultaneously the magnitude of the impacts within the region, the related impacts in other regions, and the feedback impacts due to the other regions' demand.

Palestinians in Israel: On the Margins: The Arab Population in the Israeli Economy. . Aziz Haidar .

Palestinians in Israel: On the Margins: The Arab Population in the Israeli Economy. . Aziz Haidar .

The Waning of IsraeliEtatisme

SHORT OF REVOLUTIONS, SOCIAL CHANGES tend to be gradual. Their manifestations, however—in particular their institutional results—often tend to appear at discrete intervals at the end of a cumulative process by which imperceptibly small changes attain a critical mass. In the last decade Israel has been undergoing what may have amounted to revolutionary changes in its politico-economic landscape. What seemed to have been some of the country's most solidly entrenched institutions, many of them dating back to pre-independence days, were seen to be crumbling. This was most vividly apparent in the case of enterprises and public service providers associated with the Histadrut—the once all-powerful federation of Israeli trade unions. It was these enterprises and organizations, such as the business firms owned by the Histadrut, the General Sick Fund it ran, or the Kibbutz Movement, which was more loosely associated with it, that gave Israeli economy and society much of its special flavor. Now they suddenly found themselves in what were often insurmountable economic difficulties, forcing the Histadrut to divest itself of what used to be its flagships, or transforming them into regular business firms, in exchange for being bailed out by banks, private entrepreneurs, or the government.

Implementing the Luxembourg agreement: The purchasing mission and the Israeli Economy

(1997). Implementing the Luxembourg agreement: The purchasing mission and the Israeli Economy. Journal of Israeli History: Vol. 18, No. 2-3, pp. 191-209.

The macroeconomic effects of immigration: Israel in the 1990s.

"In this paper we try to quantify the contribution of immigration to the Israeli economy during the early 1990s. In doing so we consider the effects of immigration on key macroeconomic variables such as GDP, investment, consumption, the labor market, imports, exports and the housing market....A base-run simulation is prepared for 1990-1994 assuming actual immigration. Thereafter a counterfactual simulation is prepared assuming a reduction in immigration; the difference between the two simulations estimates the contribution of immigration to the relevant endogenous variables."

The Old Testament Anti-Usury Laws Reconsidered: The Myth Of Tribal Brotherhood

While there was in general no negative attitude towards interest on loans in the ancient Near Eastern civilizations it was the moral commands of the Hebrew Bible that viewed the concept of interest taking on loans - at least to any member of the community of Israel -- as a morally questionable practice. All of the three legal codes of the Old Testament, the Code of the Covenant, the Law of Holiness, and the Code, contain a law prohibiting the lending on interest whereby the prohibition in the Code of the Covenant in the book of Exodus is generally agreed to be the oldest. This thrice repeated prohibition against lending for interest in the Pentateuch is therefore often regarded as the result of a primitive economic standard and the specific kinship morality of a tribal society. A closer look at the subject seems to prove this general opinion of most scholars to be a historical myth. In the light of recent historical research the Hebrew condemnation of lending at interest is neither in striking contrast with the traditions of Israel's ancient neighbors nor rested on very different grounds to the ideas of Plato. The Biblical prohibition against lending at interest was formulated by the school as part of an ideal law for a new post-exile Israel. It was the utopian response to the ethical demands of the prophetic thematization of justice after Israel's economy had entered the stage of early capitalism. Therefore it was not the authors of Deuteronomy, who formulated the prohibition in a stricter way than the traditional Covenant. It was the authors of Deuteronomy, who were the first to formulate the prohibition, and it was the Deuteronomistic school, which extended the other codes with a prohibition against lending at interest based on the Deuteronomic Code. The Old Testament anti usury laws are but one of the many utopian ethical demands that had a profound influence on the life and thought of the Western World.

The Waning of Israeli Etatisme

SHORT OF REVOLUTIONS, SOCIAL CHANGES tend to be gradual. Their manifestations, however-in particular their institutional results-often tend to appear at discrete intervals at the end of a cumulative process by which imperceptibly small changes attain a critical mass. In the last decade Israel has been undergoing what may have amounted to revolutionary changes in its politico-economic landscape. What seemed to have been some of the country's most solidly entrenched institutions, many of them dating back to pre-independence days, were seen to be crumbling. This was most vividly apparent in the case of enterprises and public service providers associated with the Histadrut--the once all-powerful federation of Israeli trade unions. It was these enterprises and organizations, such as the business firms owned by the Histadrut, the General Sick Fund it ran, or the Kibbutz Movement, which was more loosely associated with it, that gave Israeli economy and society much of its special flavor. Now they suddenly found themselves in what were often insurmountable economic difficulties, forcing the Histadrut to divest itself of what used to be its flagships, or transforming them into regular business firms, in exchange for being bailed out by banks, private entrepreneurs, or the government. But while the public's attention was riveted on these more spectacular occurences, a series of much less dramatic developments was taking place, the effect of which on the Israeli economic scene might ultimately be of much greater importance. These processes affected the set of institutional, administrative, and legal arrangements under which individual economic agents operate, and which constitute the fabric of the country's politicoeconomic regime. It was these arrangements, no less than the aforementioned enterprises, that also had long provided the political power base of the Israel Labor movement. In a circular chain of events, their erosion was viewed as both the cause and the effect of the change in the Israeli political map, where

Industrial Zones and Arab Industrialization in Israel

Since the 1970s there has been increased integration of the Arab sector into the Israeli economy. This integration has been characterized by the increase in industrial entrepreneurship in the Arab settlements. Critical to the industrialization process are factors related to the availability of industrial zones and the infrastructure which supports industrial production. The main factors are: limited reserves of land for industry; lack of a land market; the structure and pattern of land ownership; entrepreneurial culture which does not encourage neither using bank loans nor the commercialization of land; the absence of allocation of industrial zones in the settlements master plans; low level of infrastructure and absence of public support for the development of industrial infrastructure; and the fact that the legislation for the encouragement of capital investments has not been applied in Arab settlements. These factors may be divided between external factors partly affected by government discriminative policy which does not support Arab industrial development, and internal factors related to the specific features of the Arab economy. Together, these factors reduce the attractiveness of the Israeli Arab periphery for the arrival of core located major industrial plants, and have a negative impact on Arab internally initiated industrial entrepreneurship.

From War Profits to Peace Dividends: The New Political Economy of Israel

Since the late 1980s, Israel has been undergoing a profound transformation, characterized by reconciliation with its Arab neighbours and attempts to reintegrate into the regional economy, a transition from a militarized economy to open markets, and a decline of the collectivist ethos in favour of liberalism and free enterprise. This transition, we argue, is part of a world-wide shift from the ‘depth’ to the ‘breadth’ of accumulation and the parallel globalization of ownership. In order to survive, the large Israeli corporations must substitute outward expansion for the old protectionism of a militarized economy, and give up domestic control in return for global alliances.

The Israeli economy in the 1990s: Immigration, the peace process, and the medium‐term prospects for growth

(1996). The Israeli economy in the 1990s: Immigration, the peace process, and the medium‐term prospects for growth. Israel Affairs: Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 1-12.

State and nationalism in Israel's political economy

Aharoni, Yair, The Israeli Economy: Dreams and Realities, London and New York, Routlege, 1991. Ben‐Porath, Amir, The State and Capitalism in Israel, Connecticut and London, Greenwood Press, 1993. Plessner, Yakir, The Political Economy of Israel: from Ideology to Stagnation, Albany, University of New York Press, 1994. Shalev, Michael, Labour and Political Economy in Israel, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1992.

On the margins: the Arab population in the Israeli economy

On the margins: the Arab population in the Israeli economy

The Management of Production and the Changing Character of the Kibbutz as a Mode of Production

During the 1980s, the Israeli economy suffered near financial collapse and the kibbutz movement and its industry became heavily debt bound. As a result, significant changes in the social and economic organization of the kibbutz were implemented. It is argued here that the changes in economic organization are the more significant. Industry is the critical point of articulation between the kibbutz and the market economy. Ensuring commensurability between market exigencies and the organization and control of the kibbutz labour process is an imperative and yet few substantive data have emerged examining the transformation of the kibbutz labour process. Drawing upon data from a longitudinal, qualitative analysis of a case study kibbutz plant, as well as other secondary material, this paper examines the changes in the management of production, suggesting a formal managerial appropriation of a previously socialized kibbutz labour process with a complementary (quasi-) commodification of labour. Such changes facilitate greater market commensurability but also, importantly, have serious consequences for the reproduction of the kibbutz as a mode of production.

Military Spending and Differential Accumulation: A New Approach to the Political Economy of Armament — The Case of Israel

This paper offers a new approach to the political economy of armament, focusing on the relationship between military spending and differential accumulation in mature capitalist economies. Applied to the "model" case of Israel, our analysis suggests that the militarization of Israel's economy since the late 1960s occurred within a growing dichotomy between large and small firms. The econometric model shows that the "military-bias" of Israeli industry raised the profits of the large corporate conglomerates but constrained and even lowered those of smaller companies.

From twelve to fifteen: The impact of the last European union's enlargement on Israel's political economy

From twelve to fifteen: The impact of the last European union's enlargement on Israel's political economy

From Zionism to Capitalism: The Political Economy of Israel's Decolonization of the Occupied Territories

From Zionism to Capitalism: The Political Economy of Israel's Decolonization of the Occupied Territories

The Arab Minority in Israel's Economy: Patterns of Ethnic Inequality:Noah Lewin‐Epstein, Moshe Semyonov

The Arab Minority in Israel's Economy: Patterns of Ethnic Inequality:Noah Lewin‐Epstein, Moshe Semyonov

A macroeconometric model for Israel 1962–1990: A market equilibrium approach to aggregate demand and supply

We report the specification, estimation and simulation of a macroeconometric model of the Israeli economy. A distinctive feature of the model is the clear articulation of markets in terms of supply, demand and price determination. The principal markets consist of output, labor, exports, credit, money and foreign exchange. All markets are assumed to clear in the short run except the labor market which clears in the long run. The product market solves for product and for the price level relative to the exchange rate. We suggest that this is a sensible procedure for inflation-prone economies. The attention to both supply and demand imparts a ‘classical’ flavor to the model which is fundamentally different from earlier ‘Keynesian’ attempts to model the Israeli economy.

No Margin for Error: The Making of the Israeli Air Force (review)

148 SHOFAR Fall 1994 Vol. 13, No. 1 . a Palestinian Arab, while roughly a quarter of the total population under Israeli rule live in the occupied territories. In fact, both citizen and noncitizen Arabs play important roles in (or for) the "Jewish" economy of Israel. Yet the well documented dependence and subordination of Israel's Palestinian citizens in its political economy is indirectly dismissed by assertions that in Israel's "liberal, pluralistic democracy" they "of course" enjoy equal rights to Jews, even though they may feel subjectively harddone -by (pp. 325 and 109-111). Aharoni's only reference to the occupation is political: he worries out loud about "how to maintain the Jewish majority without becoming a garrison-state or an apartheid-like regime," and blandly suggests that "exchange of populations" might solve the problem (p. 319). Such opinionated statements, which many readers will find objectionable, are out of place in what purports to be a scholarly work. Michael Shalev Department of Sociology The Hebrew University ofjerusalem No Margin for Error: The Making of the Israeli Air Force, by Ehud Yonay. New York: Pantheon Books, 1993. 426 pp. $27.50. The Israeli Air Force (lAF) began just before the War ofIndependence . as a clandestine collection of nine volunteer pilots and six obsolete light aircraft. Additional planes were procured from the scrapheaps of World War II; more volunteer pilots, Jews and non-Jews, arrived; and when the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) was officially formed in 1948, it included an air service. But, in the eyes of the IDF commanders, ground soldiers to a man, this did not mean an independent air force, and there now ensued an uphill battle to build an independent combat-ready force, capable of achieving air superiority and support for the ground troops. Ultimately the airmen reached their objective and vindicated their doctrine on that spectacular day in June 1967 when the IAF neutralized the Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi, and Jordanian air forces and paved the way for the IDP's rapid victory in the Six-Day War. From then on, the IDF and the lAP have attracted a great number of writers, and the outlines of its history and operations have become well known. While No Margin for Error adds some interesting anecdotal details regarding the struggle for an independent air force, the virtues and foibles of some major IAF commanders and Book Reviews 149 elite fighter pilots, it does not provide much that will be valuable to the specialist reader. The basic reason of this shortcoming, and it is a shortcoming only for professional historians, is that this fascinating book was not written as serious history but rather as an entertainment. The author, the son of a well respected old settler family in northern Israel, is an investigative reporter in California whose 1983 story about u.s. Navy fighter pilots was turned into the movie Top Gun. And this book has much the same flair. Yonay managed to obtain a considerable number of personal interviews, especially for the pre-1973 period. Thereafter, presumably for security reasons, his sources become much more reticent, the account becomes much briefer, and there is little operational or technical detail. Although Mr. Yonay did his IDF service in the ground forces, his heart is clearly with the airmen. Even so, his narrative is both sympathetic and objective, while the writing throughout is informal and dramatic. Chatty, loaded with colorful anecdotes and personal details, Yonay's style is very much in the manner of a veteran pilot recalling the antics of his younger years. The result is that he succeeds in humanizing his story and bringing commanders such as Aharon Remez, Menahem Bar, Don Tolkowsky, Moti Hod, and above all the charismatic but mercurial Ezer Weizman, Yonay's main hero and in his view the real founder of the modern IAF, to life. Yonay's account of the fight for an independent air force, the struggle by the "Blues" to wrest operational control from a landforces-oriented IDF high command, the "Greens," is well told, and, though heavily prejudiced in favor of the airmen, provides new detail especially on the internal politics of the IDF and the government. Unfortunately, this personal approach...

The Arab Minority in Israel's Economy: Patterns of Ethnic Inequality.

The Arab Minority in Israel's Economy considers the Arab population as an integral, albeit disadvantaged, part of Israeli society. Using data from a thirty-year period, the book looks at Arab participation in the economy, especially in the labor market, showing how significant socioeconomic inequality persists despite a fundamental tenet of Israel's declaration of independence asserting equality of political and social rights of all its citizens. Taking an ethnic competition perspective, the authors explore the extent of inequality, uncovering the institutional and social processes that influence it. They examine the role of local labor markets and individual human resources, giving special attention to the growing labor force participation of Arab women. They also consider the gains of the majority Jewish population that have resulted from competition and economic discrimination against Arabs. Although the Arab community in Israel has been studied in the past, this book is unique in its detailed analysis of employment activity within and outside of the Arab sector and in examining both Arabs and Jews within the stratification system. The book fosters deeper understanding of Israeli society and of multi-ethnic societies more generally.