Israeli Policy Research Articles

Pilgrims, Protest Tourists, and Palestinians: Abu Dis, Bethlehem, Dheisheh Camp

The central idea of this essay is that nonindigenous vernacular image-making by protest tourists on the Palestinian side of the Israeli separation barrier and elsewhere holds little meaning for the permanent residents beyond a relatively minor revenue stream. Prior to making this argument, I provide a short historical background about the use of vernacular messages in the occupied Palestinian territory known as the West Bank. I then focus on images of martyrs or shaheed and then on separation barrier images by protest tourists mostly in Bethlehem. The final sections are about two artists from the Dheisheh Palestinian Refugee Camp and the images they create within the camp. A coda of sorts discusses a mural within the camp that is venerated by the residents as opposed to the overpainting and defacement that takes place on the separation barrier. Within this final section and elsewhere within this essay, the meaning of sumood is explicated. As a note, protest tourists are defined here not as anti-tourism protesters but rather as tourists whose intent is protest Israeli policies regarding Palestinians.

Implementation of Teleworking Policy in Israel - Benefits, Challenges and the Day after COVID-19 יישום מדיניות עבודה מרחוק בישראל – תועלת, אתגרים והיום שאחרי מגפת הקורונה (COVID-19)

תקציר בעברית: בשל הצפי לגידול האוכלוסייה ולהתרחבות הגודש בכבישים צפויות להחמיר גם ההשפעות הסביבתיות של ענף התחבורה בישראל. לשם התמודדות עם שינויים אלה יש לצמצם משמעותית את הנסועה הפרטית. אחד מכלי המדיניות שיוצרים שינוי בביקוש לנסיעות הוא עבודה מרחוק, המאפשרת לעובדים להימנע מנסיעות באזורי ביקוש ובשעות השיא. מאמר זה סוקר את הידע הקיים בנושא מדיניות עבודה מרחוק, את ההשלכות האפשריות של יישום מדיניות זו בישראל בכלל, ולנוכח השפעות מגפת הקורונה (COVID-19) בפרט.לעבודה מרחוק יש פוטנציאל לתועלת משקית רבה, כגון חיסכון בעלויות החיצוניות מהנסועה, הגדלת הפריון והעלאת פרודוקטיביות העובדים, חיזוק הפריפריה, צמצום פערים מגדריים והנגשת שוק העבודה לאוכלוסיות מוחלשות. עם זאת, עבודה מרחוק יוצרת גם אתגרים לא מעטים: ניהוליים, טכנולוגיים, חברתיים ונוספים. שיעור העובדים מרחוק בישראל נמוך משמעותית ביחס למערב, אך נמצא במגמת עלייה במגזר הפרטי. לעומת זאת, הסכמי השכר במגזר הציבורי אינם מאפשרים עבודה מרחוק מלבד במקרים בודדים. דו"ח ועדת מומחים שפורסם לאחרונה ממליץ לממשלת ישראל לקדם תוכנית לאומית לעידוד עבודה מרחוק, שתכלול הצבת יעדים כמותיים לעבודה מרחוק במשק, תמיכה בתוכניות פיילוט ומתן תמריצים למגזרים השונים. מגפת הקורונה חשפה עובדים ומעסיקים רבים במשק לאפשרות של עבודה מרחוק, וזו הפכה לאחד הסממנים הבולטים של התקופה ויושמה לראשונה במגוון ענפים במשק, לרבות המגזר הציבורי. נראה כי להתנסות לא מתוכננת זו תהיה השפעה גם בתום תקופת המשבר על מיסוד והטמעה של עבודה מרחוק במשק הישראלי, וייתכן שבתנאים מסוימים אף על היקף הגודש בכבישים. יש לזכור כי בחלק גדול מהמשק בוצע מעבר חירום לא מתוכנן לעבודה מרחוק, ללא הכשרה מתאימה לעובדים ולמנהלים, ללא תיעוד ובקרה נאותה הנדרשים מפיילוט שמופעל במצב שגרה, וללא שימוש במרכזי תעסוקה משותפים המותאמים לעבודה מרחוק. למרות זאת, המשבר יצר הזדמנות חשובה לקידום עבודה מרחוק בישראל ולזיהוי פרקטיקות אפקטיביות לעבודה מהבית. התובנות שעולות כיום ושימשיכו להצטבר בעקבותיו יאפשרו למקבלי ההחלטות לקדם ולמסד הסדרי עבודה גמישים במשק הישראלי גם לאחריו.English Abstract: The projected population growth and the expansion of traffic congestion, are expected to exacerbate the environmental impacts of the transportation sector in Israel. To deal with these changes, the mileage of private transportation must be significantly reduced.Teleworking (telecommuting) is one of the policy tools that can alter road travel demand, by allowing employees to avoid travelling in peak hours and in high demand areas. This paper reviews the existing knowledge on teleworking policy, the possible consequences of implementing this policy in Israel in general, and in light of the COVID-19 pandemic effects in particular. Teleworking has a great potential for economic and social benefits, such as transportation externalities saving, increasing productivity, strengthening the periphery areas, reducing gender inequality and making the labor market accessible to underprivileged populations. However, teleworking also creates quite a few challenges: administrative, technological, social and more. The rate of teleworking in Israel was significantly lower than in western countries, but is now on the rise in the private sector. In contrast, public sector employment contracts prohibit teleworking, except in very few specific cases. A recently published expert opinion report recommends that the Israeli government promotes a national plan to encourage teleworking, which will include setting quantitative targets for teleworking, supporting pilot programs and providing incentives to the various sectors.The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed many employees and employers to the possibility of working remotely, which has become one of this period's prominent features and was implemented for the first time in a variety of sectors and industries, including the public sector. It seems that this unplanned natural experiment will also have a positive effect on the institutionalization and assimilation of teleworking in the Israeli economy, beyond the pandemic, and under certain conditions even on the extent of traffic congestion. It should be noted that in a large part of the labor market, an unplanned emergency transition to teleworking has occurred, without proper training, documentation and proper control required from a pilot program in routine conditions, and without the use of hubs, adapted for teleworking. Despite this, the crisis has created an important opportunity to promote teleworking in Israel and to identify effective practices for working from home. The insights that arise today and will continue to accumulate in its wake, will enable decision-makers to promote and establish flexible working arrangements in the Israeli economy after the pandemic.

A single holiday was the turning point of the COVID-19 policy of Israel

ObjectivesDespite an initial success, Israel’s quarantine-isolation COVID-19 policy has abruptly collapsed. This study’s aim is to identify the causes that led to this exponential rise in the accumulation of confirmed cases. MethodsEpidemiological investigation reports were used to reconstruct chains of transmission as well as assess the net contribution of local infections relative to imported cases, infected travelers arriving from abroad. A mathematical model was implemented in order to describe the efficiency of the quarantine-isolation policy and the inflow of imported cases. The model’s simulations included two scenarios for the actual time series of the symptomatic cases, providing insights into the conditions that lead to the abrupt change. ResultsThe abrupt change followed a Jewish holiday, Purim, in which many public gatherings were held. According to the first scenario, the accumulation of confirmed cases before Purim was driven by imported cases resulting in a controlled regime, with an effective reproduction number, Re, of 0.69. In the second scenario, which followed Purim, a continuous rise of the local to imported cases ratio began, which led to an exponential growth regime characterized by an Re of 4.34.It was found that the change of regime cannot be attributed to super-spreader events, as these consisted of approximately 5% of the primary cases, which resulted in 17% of the secondary cases. ConclusionsA general lesson for health policymakers should be that even a short lapse in public responsiveness can lead to dire consequences.

Air Pollution Policy in Israel

Since its establishment in 1948, the State of Israel has been oriented towards economic development and industrialization, with a transportation sector increasingly focused on private cars. In 1961, initial awareness of environmental risks led to the adoption of the Abatement of Nuisances Law, which served as the platform for air pollution policy for several decades, even as population growth and growth of the industrial sector, including fossil fuel power plants, led to a continuous increase in air pollution. In the early 2000s, the environmental movement in Israel criticized local air pollution policy as being out of date and started to promote a new Clean Air Law. The law, which was adopted in 2008 and came into force in 2011, was a watershed in air pollution policy in Israel. It includes ambient air quality values for 28 contaminants, emission permits for the industrial sector based on best available techniques (BAT), an enforcement system, and a unified and transparent monitoring system. This paper reviews the history of air pollution policy in Israel from 1948, through the 1961 and 2008 landmark legislations and their strengths and weaknesses, to the present. The paper ends with recommendations for future air pollution policy in Israel.

Palestinian Non-Violent Resistance and the Apartheid Analogy

Israel/Palestine is a context in which the term “apartheid” keeps reappearing. As a historical analogy and cultural shorthand, it functions as a powerful Palestinian weapon when used to describe Israeli policy and actions in what amounts to a battle of narratives in the international arena. For a long time, Palestinians have been known primarily for their violent struggle, but employing loaded vocabulary to depict their lives and experiences under Israeli control is more than just using a certain word, it is a strategic choice. The earliest uses of the apartheid analogy have long been placed in the 1970s, however, evidence of its use can already be found before the United Nation’s General Assembly declared apartheid a crime in 1973. The first instances happened simultaneously with the development of the organized Palestinian national movement in the 1960s. Focusing on Fayez Sayegh (1922–1980), an academic and UN special rapporteur to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, I argue such historical analogies need to be read as a non-violent tactic of resistance within the Palestinian struggle. Sayegh was almost singlehandedly responsible for introducing the apartheid analogy at the United Nations – my primary contextual interest. His analyses of racial segregation, however, were thoroughly countered, making his engagement for Palestine seem like a failure. And yet his early attempts to bring the apartheid analogy into wide circulation, along with the increasingly more complicated situation on the ground, show results. Today, the term has become common usage in describing Israel and puts enormous pressure on the country. The spread of the apartheid analogy shows that non-violent forms of Palestinian resistance, which in the 1960s and 1970s were almost invisible internationally, long existed.

The Historical Antecedents of Hamas

One of the unresolved dilemmas in the Israeli—Palestinian peace process is whether peace is possible without, or feasible with, Hamas. This article seeks to explain why Israeli policies have thus far failed and why the inclusion of Hamas in the peace process is more likely to produce a lasting peace. Using data drawn from interviews, fieldwork and surveys, and theoretical perspectives from peace and social movement studies, the article analyses the evolution Hamas has undergone since its inception and how changes in its leadership, constituency and political culture have affected the movement's attitudes towards peace and compromise.

Health Literacy Policy in Israel – Culturally Appropriate Health Systems

Abstract Background The diverse culture in Israel created the need for developing and implementing a national policy for culturally and linguistically appropriate health services. The need stems from trends in immigration to Israel, various levels of religiosity, and the ethnic diversity of the veteran population. Health literacy plays a prominent role in this policy. Methods A national policy directive was developed and disseminated by the Israel Ministry of Health calling for culturally appropriate health information to the public, communication while receiving healthcare including ongoing staff training, health promotion intervention, and research for needs assessment. Results The national policy has been implemented for the past five years in primary care, hospitals and non-governmental health organizations. Cultural health liaisons have been integrated into primary healthcare teams in over 30 community clinics caring for Ethiopian immigrants, telephone translation services are available for Amaharic/Tigrinia, Russian and Arabic speaking communities, quality healthcare standards defined on topics such as of diabetes, and training of staff on cultural sensitivity continuously conducted. Culturally appropriate printed and digital sources of health information are available for diverse ethnic and religious communities. Appropriate health promotion intervention is routinely implemented on healthy lifestyle, early detection, and self-care, focusing mainly on NCDs and system navigation, supported by applied research and evaluation. Conclusions The policy implementation was the result of significant investment by stakeholders at all levels and requires support for sustainability regarding health literacy, health behaviour and health outcomes. Resource allocation is necessary for assessment and outcome measurement, and for applying more participatory methods for policy development, training, implementation and evaluation.

Large‐Scale Desalination and the External Impact on Irrigation‐Water Salinity: Economic Analysis for the Case of Israel

AbstractRecent agroeconomic studies in water‐scarce countries such as Spain, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Israel have revealed the economic viability of irrigating high‐value crops with desalinated water. However, the worldwide growth of large‐scale desalination capacities is primarily designed to resolve urban‐water scarcity, disregarding the impact of desalination on irrigation‐water salinity. We develop a dynamic hydroeconomic programming model where infrastructure capacities and allocations of water quantities and salinities in a regional water distribution network are endogenous. We show that subsidizing desalination is socially warranted because the associated reduction in irrigation‐water salinity is an external effect of water consumption by all water users. Empirical application to the entire state of Israel indicates that large‐scale desalination of seawater and treated wastewater for irrigation is optimal. This result stems from the large share of irrigation‐intensive salinity‐sensitive high‐value crops, motivated by Israel's policies to support local agriculture. Ignoring salinity results in a 45% reduction in desalinated irrigation water, a 29% reduction in farming profits, a 250% increase in water suppliers' profits, and an average deadweight loss of $1,200 a year per hectare of arable land.

The Israeli judiciary-centered constitutionalism

Abstract The article argues that over the years a series of gradual developments has taken place in the judicial review policies of Israel’s Supreme Court, whereby the Court expanded its ad hoc discretion in determining the constitutional limits that apply to primary legislation. Israeli constitutionalism has become judiciary-centered. The article suggests that judicial discretion that the Israeli Supreme Court tends to exercise in constitutional matters is of two types: substantive judicial discretion, which concerns the interpretation or application of the law; and adjudicative discretion, which includes both the discretion to deny in limine petitions in which the Court does not deem it necessary to grant relief according to considerations such as standing or delay; and the Court’s discretion in the manner of the hearing. The article suggests three illuminations of Israeli judiciary-centered constitutionalism: expenditure of the justices’ awareness of their discretion; the decline of the rules structuring judicial discretion; and a re-rise of the justices’ recognition of legitimacy of adjudicative discretion due to the expansion of substantive judicial discretion.

Toward a New Multilingual Educational Policy in Israel: Attitudes and Perceptions of Teachers and Students

AbstractIsrael's Education Ministry invited proposals for the development of a new multilingual policy for the country's education system. We submitted a proposal for an ‘engaged language policy’ approach, which helps schools to conceptualize and develop a policy that best fits them ideologically and demographically. This study aimed to map teachers’ and students’ attitudes toward various principles and practices of multilingual education in order to gather baseline data for the policy. It consisted of a mixed method design that included 2,157 Jewish and Arab teachers and students. Results showed a positive stance toward a multilingual policy and general readiness to implement it. There was overall support for expanding the range of languages offered and for strengthening immigrants’ languages, beside positive attitudes toward Arabic and Hebrew instruction for Jews and Arabs, respectively, together with various reservations, especially about translanguaging and accommodations for immigrants. Several differences emerged between Jews and Arabs, reflecting essential gaps between them regarding language and identity in Israel. The findings provide a basis for developing the new policy on more stable ground, adjusting its central principles to different contexts and implementing it gradually, enabling each school to design its own language policy based on its own ideology and demography.

A Palestinian Statelet in Gaza

Fatah leaders routinely accuse Hamas of plotting to establish an “emirate” in the Gaza Strip. Gaza is in fact turning into a statelet separate from the West Bank, but it is Israeli policies that are driving the “Gaza is Palestine” option with a series of measures that have been implemented since the early 1990s to sever Gaza from the West Bank. This development has intensified under the administration of U.S. president Donald Trump. In the White House's vision for Middle East peace, which turns the West Bank into a series of isolated Bantustans enveloped by Israeli territory and shorn of Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip becomes the centerpiece of any future Palestinian entity. The international community, laser focused on avoiding another war in Gaza, has prioritized the humanitarian over the political crisis, furthering the excision of the Palestinian territory. As aid flows directly into Gaza, bypassing Ramallah, and Israel and Hamas negotiate a long-term ceasefire, the Palestinian Authority (PA) finds itself increasingly marginalized.

Beytülmakdis Şehrindeki Filistin Direnişine Halk Desteği 1987-2019

تهدف هذه الدراسة إلى تسليط الضوء على الحاضنة الشعبية للمقاومة الفلسطينية في مدينة بيت المقدس، باعتبارها تشكل الدفيئة الحقيقية والظهير الشعبي، الذي يساند المقاومة ويحميها ويرعاها منذ اندلاع ثورات وانتفاضات الشعب الفلسطيني في الماضي وصولا إلى الحاضر. في هذه الدراسة سيتم تناول مفهوم الحاضنة الشعبية، ودورها في استمرار العمل المقاوم، وأهميتها في بلوغ المقاومة الفلسطينية لأهدافها الوطنية. وسيتم كذلك تناول أهم السياسات الإسرائيلية التي دأبت عليها حكومات الاحتلال منذ عام 1948، والتي كانت ترمي إلى تغييب دور الحاضنة الشعبية، وتحييدها عن دعم المقاومة عبر إشغال هذه الحاضنة بنفسها والعمل على إفسادها. بعد ذلك ستلقي هذه الدراسة الضوء على المرحلة الممتدة ما بعد اندلاع انتفاضة الحجارة في عام 1987 وحتى يومنا هذا، باعتبار أن هذه الانتفاضة تمثل مرحلة مهمة في تاريخ الشعب الفلسطيني، لمدى تأثيرها على إعادة انبعاث الحاضنة الشعبية بعد فشل السياسات الإسرائيلية في تغييبها عن أداء دورها. وسيتم كذلك إلقاء الضوء عن أشكال التفاف الحاضنة الشعبية مع المقاومة الفلسطينية، وما هي وسائل الضغط المستمرة التي تقوم بها سلطات الاحتلال على الحاضنة الشعبية في مدينة بيت المقدس بهدف خنقها والتضييق عليها. وفي ختام هذه الدراسة سنخلص إلى أهم التوصيات التي تتعلق بتفعيل دور الحاضنة الشعبية وضمان الحفاظ عليها وعدم تآكلها

The end–means nexus and policy conversion: evidence from two cases in Israeli immigrant integration policy

Conversion—redirection of existing tools to new goals—is one strategy of gradual transformative change. This strategy is appealing because it does not require actors to introduce new programs or tools. Despite this appeal, it is not as broadly used as other gradual change strategies. This paper argues that this is because there is an additional condition for conversion. To convert an instrument, agents of change should see the connection between the tool and its original goal as loose. That takes place when actors perceive the tool as generic or when they are part of instrument constituencies and not advocacy coalition. The paper demonstrates this argument using an analysis of a positive and a negative case of conversion from immigrant integration policy in Israel. As such, the paper expands our understanding of conversion, going beyond institutional and political factors.

Permission to Narrate a Pandemic in Palestine

Permission to Narrate a Pandemic in Palestine

The Emerging Right of West Bank Palestinians to Israeli Citizenship

This article explores a path in international law for recognizing the right of the Palestinian population of the West Bank to Israeli citizenship, based on the annexationist policies of Israel in the West Bank. The scope of the obligation of states to confer citizenship on individuals is determined by international human rights law (“IHRL”). The article shows that a plausible reading of the IHRL treaty obligations of Israel suggests that it has a duty to grant citizenship to individuals born in its territory, who would otherwise be stateless, and that most West Bank Palestinians are currently considered stateless. Therefore, if a given area of the West Bank is considered to have become part of Israel, most Palestinians subsequently born in such territory are plausibly entitled to receive Israeli citizenship as a matter of treaty law. There also seems to be a broad, emerging right under customary international law of the residents of a territory acquired by a state to receive the citizenship of that state, regardless of whether or not they would otherwise be considered stateless. The West Bank is a territory under Israeli occupation, and annexation by an occupier of any part of the occupied territory violates international law. The article argues, however, that the illegal annexation by Israel of an occupied territory would make that territory a part of Israel for the limited purpose of the right to citizenship, as an exception to the principle that illegal annexation is null and void. Hence, the existing and emerging IHRL obligations of Israel to grant citizenship to residents of territory acquired by Israel extend to Palestinians residing in areas of the West Bank illegally annexed by Israel. The article argues further that, for the purpose of applying the norms of IHRL that concern the right to citizenship, the definition of annexation extends beyond formal annexation and encompasses de facto annexation as well. Annexation of occupied territory results from the occupier’s display of sovereignty in that territory, among others, by settling its own population in the occupied territory. In view of the current spread of Israeli settlements across the West Bank, unless Israel removes, within a reasonable time period, many of these settlements, the entire territory of the West Bank may be considered to have been annexed, and the entire Palestinian population of the West Bank would have a strong claim to Israeli citizenship under an emerging norm of international law.

Exhibiting activism at the Palestinian Museum

ABSTRACT The sovereign nation-state remains the taken-for-granted setting for museums, which are conventionally understood as public institutions that collate and preserve objects, and make collections accessible to visitors. Given these expectations, the Palestinian Museum offers an intriguing case study in a growing body of research on the relationship between museums and international relations. In 2016, the Palestinian Museum opened in the West Bank without a collection and with an admission that, due to the Israeli occupation, many Palestinians would not be able to reach the building. This article proposes that the museum initiative and the experiences it has entailed illustrate activism under occupation, and the challenge this activism makes to Israel’s policies of control and erasure has been visible in three key ways. Firstly, the museum asserts a visible national presence in an environment where the everyday lives of Palestinians and Palestinian ambitions for independence are severely constrained. Secondly, the museum staff have used the lack of a collection to draw international attention to the Israeli occupation and policies of settlement, expropriation, and control. And thirdly, in its programme and stated ambitions, the museum’s designers have given wide scope to their imagined audience and the Palestinian national community, with a view to enhancing a transnational arena for activism.

Re-(Modi)fying India’s Israel Policy: An Exploration of Practical Geopolitical Reasoning Through Re-representation of ‘India’, ‘Israel’ and ‘West Asia’ Post-2014

Narendra Modi became the first Prime Minister of India to undertake a stand-alone visit to Israel from 4 to 6 July 2017. Although India–Israel relations had been normalised in 1992, the nature of this bilateral relationship remained murky as India avoided any explicit recognition. However, with Modi’s visit, the policy of ‘equidistance’ or ‘de-hyphenation’ of ‘Israel’ and ‘Palestine’ was formally operationalised proclaiming that India’s relations with one country will have no impact on relations with the other. Conventional academic wisdom attributes causal determinants to Indian foreign policy vis-à-vis Israel as guided by international and domestic factors. This article contends that a constitutive approach to understanding India’s foreign policy towards Israel and the Middle East offers a viable alternative. Adopting Gearoid O Tuathail’s theoretical framework of practical geopolitical reasoning, this article critically explores the geopolitical representations of ‘India’, ‘Israel’, ‘Palestine’, ‘West Asia’, ‘South Asia’ and ‘Middle East’ in the National Democratic Alliance government’s foreign policy discourse through an analysis of ‘grammar of geopolitics’, ‘geopolitical storylines’ and ‘geopolitical script’. The article demonstrates that re-representation of ‘India’ as a ‘global actor’ and re-representation of ‘Israel’ as a country in ‘West Asia’ have enabled the Modi-led government to implement India–Israel bilateral partnership which underscores strategic cooperation in full visibility via overt normalisation.

Israel, Palestine, and Apartheid

The term Apartheid was coined to describe the system of segregation, practiced for many years in South Africa. However the 2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court omitted all references to South Africa in its definition of ‘the crime of apartheid’ and the term is now defined globally as a crime against humanity. This article explores the similarities and differences between the now abandoned practice of apartheid in South Africa and the current apartheid policies of Israel, highlighting the need to differentiate between Israel proper (within its pre-1967 boundaries), Greater Israel (within the post-1967 boundaries), and Greater Palestine. Whereas Israel claims it offers democratic rights for all its citizens, all seven pillars of apartheid can be shown to exist in the occupied territories, where the Israeli regime is the sole authority, leaving the Palestinian Authority powerless. The article details how the influx of the different immigrant communities to Israel has disenfranchised the Palestinians from their land. It provides a new definition for the policies practiced, and the many ways in which Israel dictates to the lives of the Palestinians, as “Apartheid of a special type”. It concludes with a proposal to support the policy of bi-nationalism, as stated in in the Haifa Declaration of 2007, which calls for a “change in the definition of the State of Israel from a Jewish state to a democratic state established on national and civil equality between the two national groups, and enshrining the principles of banning discrimination and of equality between all of its citizens and residents.”

Israeli Policy of Racial Discrimination and Arab Minorities

이 논문은 이스라엘 밖으로 추방되거나 난민이 된 사람들을 제외하고, 이스라엘 국내 정치에서 영향력 있는 소수민족으로 남아 있는 아랍계 이스라엘인들을 분석한 것이다. 최근 몇 년 동안, 이스라엘 내에서 우파 시온주의자들과 아랍 소수민족간의 관계는 점점 더 심각한 문제가 되었다. 실제로, 이스라엘 내부에서 유대인/아랍인의 분열이 더욱 강화된다면, 그것은 다른 어떤 사회적 분열보다 이스라엘 사회와 정치에 폭발적인 영향을 끼칠 수 있다. 이 연구는 아랍계 소수민족에 대한 이스라엘의 정책과 이스라엘의 아랍공동체가 유대인과 동등한 법적, 정치적 권리를 획득할 가능성을 탐구한다

Austerity Beyond Crisis: Economists and the Institution of Austere Social Spending for At-Risk Children in Israel

AbstractAusterity is frequently associated with crisis-enabled spending cuts. What happens when the crisis is over? This article’s original contribution lies in its in-depth exploration of one mechanism that help explain austerity’s endurance post-crisis, when state elites face increased popular resistance and pressure to reinstate social spending. This mechanism calls attention to the role of economists in Central Budgeting Offices as agents of technocratization and de-politicization within social policy domains. These economists may institute an austere spending mode by changing social spending’s norms and instruments. To demonstrate economists’ role in mediating macroeconomic fiscal goals and social policy design over time, the article examines the development of child welfare policy in Israel before, during and in the aftermath of economic crisis. In this case, austerity attained hegemony when economists were able to delegitimize and shelve an ‘irresponsible’ social spending proposal – and in response to post-crisis demands for compensation – introduce an austere policy instrument to cap social spending during a period of social policy expansion. This analysis suggests that scholars regard relations between austerity and social spending as dialectical.