Substantive session of 2002

implementation of the international covenant on

economic, social and cultural rights

Second periodic reports submitted by States parties under

articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant

Addendum

Israel*

[3 August 2001]

* The initial report submitted by the Government of Israel was considered by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at its nineteenth session in 1998 (see E/C.12/1998/SR.31-33 and concluding observations E/C.12/1/Add.27, additional information submitted by the Government of Israel (E/1989/5/Add.14) was considered by the Committee at its twenty-sixth (extraordinary) session in 2001).

GE.01-45134 (E) 191201

CONTENTS

ParagraphsPage

Introduction 1 - 83 

Article 1 94 

Article 2 10 - 664 

Article 3 67 - 9223 

Article 6 93 - 16429 

Article 7 165 - 18449 

Article 8 185 - 20457 

Article 9 205 - 23963 

Article 10 240 - 27871 

Article 11 279 - 39277 

Article 12 393 - 428116 

Article 13 429 - 504124 

Article 15 505 - 541166 

Introduction

Israel ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (hereafter - the Covenant) in August 1991. The Covenant entered into force with respect to Israel on 3 January 1992. The following is the second periodic report submitted by Israel pursuant to articles 16-17 of the Covenant and of the guidelines issued by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The present report presents information pertaining to changes that have occurred since the initial report submitted by Israel in November 1997 (hereafter - the initial report). This information relies on the same sources that were used for the initial report. This report follows the initial report’s editing. It reflects all data available as of August 2000.

Mr. Michael Atlan, Adv., has prepared the report with the help of Mr. Guy Lurie, on behalf of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Annexed to the report are recent specialized publications and legal texts, including a comprehensive and updated version of all labour laws in Israel (annex I). *

Applicability of the Covenant to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip

In its concluding observations on Israel’s initial report, the Committee questioned Israel’s position regarding the applicability of the Covenant to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israel has consistently maintained that the Covenant does not apply to areas that are not subject to its sovereign territory and jurisdiction. This position is based on the well-established distinction between human rights and humanitarian law under international law. Accordingly, in Israel’s view, the Committee’s mandate cannot relate to events in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, inasmuch as they are part and parcel of the context of armed conflict as distinct from a relationship of human rights.

Furthermore, pursuant to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement of 1995, and the consequent documentation and undertakings of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the overwhelming majority of powers and responsibilities in all civil spheres (including economic, social and cultural), as well as a variety of security issues, have been transferred to the Palestinian Council, which in any event is directly responsible and accountable vis‑à‑vis the entire Palestinian population of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with regard to such issues. In light of this changing reality, and the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Council in these areas, Israel cannot be internationally responsible for ensuring the rights under the Covenant in these areas.

* Texts of the annexes can be consulted in the files of the secretariat.

The fact that the Palestinian Council does not represent a State, does not, in itself, preclude its responsibility in the sphere of human rights protection. In fact, this is also evident under article XIX of the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, according to which the Palestinians have taken it upon themselves to exercise their powers and responsibilities “with due regard to internationally accepted norms and principles of human rights and the rule of law”. Similarly, under article II (c) (4) of the Wye River Memorandum, the Palestinian Police is obliged “to exercise its powers and responsibilities with due regard to internationally accepted norms of human rights and the rule of law, and be guided by the need to protect the public, respect human dignity and avoid harassment”.

In this respect, it should be noted that without prejudice to its basic position, Israel has been willing - and, in fact, has done so in the context of its oral presentation of its initial periodic report - to cooperate with the Committee and provide relevant information to the extent possible, with regard to the exercise of those powers and responsibilities, which according to the agreements reached with the Palestinians, continue to be exercised by Israel in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Article 1 of the Covenant: self-determination

No change has occurred on this subject since Israel’s initial report.

Article 2 - general principles: State responsibility, non-discrimination

and international cooperation

1. State responsibility

Economic, social and cultural rights continue to be widely recognized in Israel, whether directly by law, regulations or case law, or indirectly by administrative programmes.

The trend of legalization of welfare in Israel, described in the initial report, has continued since then. The two best examples are the Equal Rights for People with Disabilities Law, 1998 (the English translation is provided in annex II;* additional discussion on this Law is included below under this report on article 2); the Infants at Risk Law, 2000 (there is still no English translation available at present; see further on this law under article 10).

Economic, social and cultural rights as constitutional rights

Israel’s draft Basic Law: Social Rights, which was reported in Israel’s initial report, is no longer pending in the Knesset. The future of such legislation is still not clear. However, the rights protected by the Covenant are now part of the ongoing public debate and appear in regular curricula of law faculties. Moreover, the economic, social and cultural rights are more and more recognized as constitutional rights in the jurisprudence of Israel’s Supreme Court. We would

like to point out two basic approaches to this matter.

* Texts of the annexes can be consulted in the file of the secretariat.

The first is an interpretative approach. In the initial report, mention was made that Justice Aharon Barak, the Supreme Court President, had given his opinion in academic writings that the “right to decent conditions of living” should be construed as being included in the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty (Barak, 1994, pp. 416-417). It was also stated that no case on this subject had yet been brought before the Supreme Court. This interpretative approach is now apparent in a few recent judicial decisions, even though there is still no binding precedent supporting it.

In a recent judgement, delivered on 19 March 2001 by the Supreme Court in the case of Gamzo v. Ishayahu (REC 4905/98) the Court used the said approach for the purpose of interpreting the Enforcement of Judgments Law - 1967. This law grants discretionary power to spread alimony payments when necessary due to “special reasons”. The court ruled that these “special reasons” include protecting the “hard core” of the right to a minimal standard of living, the right to adequate food and the right to proper health care of both the debtor and the holder of the right to alimony. The court added (holding with the said “interpretive approach”) that the “hard core” of these rights is protected by the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty.

In a National Labour Court Case (1997/4-265) Hassid v. The National Insurance Institute (NII), the National Labour Court adjudicated a homeless person’s claim of entitlement to income benefits from the NII, despite his inability to support the application with details of his address, which are necessary to verify the authenticity of the application. The Court interpreted theBasic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty as encompassing within its scope of protection a commitment on the part of the State to ensure a minimum standard of living, and held that the Income Support Law must be read in light of this Basic Law. The Court thus ruled that the NII wrongfully rejected the plaintiff’s application and ordered it to reprocess the application, notwithstanding the incompleteness of the information.

In C.A. 3275/98, Welfare Officer, the City of Holon v. Anonymous, the Tel Aviv District Court reviewed a request by the social services for an Order to perform an operation on a two-year-old girl. Her mother, a Moldavian citizen, who left Israel shortly after giving birth to the girl, had deserted the girl. The Court held that by accepting the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the State took upon itself the obligation to provide children with the highest attainable level of health, and ordered that a medical procedure necessary to improve the girl’s quality of life be performed regardless of her nationality.

A second approach recognizes economic, social and cultural rights as autonomous constitutional values. This path was taken in a decision issued in 1998 (H.C. 450/97), Tnuffah, Manpower Services and Maintenance Ltd. v. Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, in which the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of legislation requiring manpower contractors to deposit with the Ministry of Labour and Social Services a bank guaranty to ensure the fulfilment of their obligations vis‑à‑vis their employees. The Court held that while this requirement places limits on the freedom of occupation, such a restriction is necessary and appropriate. In the words of the President of the Court, Justice Aharon Barak (at para. 12):

Defending workers’ rights is a proper purpose; guaranteeing workers’ social security is a proper purpose; observance of a statutory legal framework to protect workers is a proper purpose. Indeed, protection of workers’ rights is of fundamental social importance in our society. For constitutional purposes it is a “proper purpose”. The respondents have been correct to observe that there is a vital public need in regulating the business of manpower contractors and defending the interests of a particularly weak sector of employees.

Justice Dorner, went on, in the same case, to call for judicial restraint while protecting the rights to property and freedom of occupation, whenever this has to be balanced against the protection of basic workers’ social rights. She added:

… [We] are dealing with social legislation intended to protect workers. In regard to such legislation, the Court must exercise extreme caution not to harm workers’ rights in order to satisfy individual rights such as freedom of occupation and the right to property.

Such duality of approaches is clearly manifested in the wording of Judge Elishevah Barak, currently Deputy President of the National Labour Court. She had already written in a decision issued in 1996, while sitting as a Regional Labour Court Judge, that:

The right to work is also one of the basic human rights and as long as the State of Israel has no Basic Law: Social Rights, one should hold these individual rights as included in human dignity … This right derives from the notion that human dignity presupposes a minimal human existence … The right is, in my opinion, included in the term “human dignity” in Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, because even though this is a social right, it is a social right of the individual, and not of the public. This right also derives from Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation. This right includes not only the right not to live in the street and not to starve. Human dignity is also impaired when one is forced to inaction, even if one is not starving while earning wages.

(Taba 54/3-289 Dr. Orly Peret v. Dr. Amitzur Farkash)

Additional and more specific judicial decisions of this nature can be found in subsequent parts of this report.

Lastly, mention should be made of a new section added to theEqual Rights for Women Law, 1951 (sect. 6), in an amendment enacted in April 2000, according to which: “Any woman and man has the equal right to an existence in human dignity, including equality at work, in education, health, housing, environmental protection and social welfare.”

This provision clearly assumes the existence of social rights in general, and of the right to decent living conditions in particular, even though it directly prescribes only a norm of equality.

2. Non-discrimination

A detailed account of recent application of the non-discrimination principle is given in each chapter of this report. There are mentioned here only issues of general and broad implications. Special attention has been given to the Committee’s concerns and observations in its concluding observations on Israel’s initial report.

Israel and the law of return

In its concluding observations on Israel’s initial periodic report, the Committee expressed its concern (paragraph 13 of the concluding observations):

“… [T]hat the Law of Return, which permits any Jew from anywhere in the world to immigrate and thereby virtually automatically enjoy residence and obtain citizenship in Israel, discriminates against Palestinians in the diaspora upon whom the Government of Israel has imposed restrictive requirements that make it almost impossible to return to their land of birth.”

The Israeli Law of Return personifies the very essence of the State of Israel as a “Jewish and democratic State”. During the period from 1939 onward, it should be recalled that the gates of Mandatory Palestine, and in fact, nearly all countries, were closed to Jewish immigration, thus contributing to the death of millions of Jews in Europe at the hands of Nazi Germany during World War II. In the aftermath of the horrors of World War II, and following the establishment of the State of Israel, Israel’s founders enacted the Law of Return to give formal expression to the three central tenets underlying the establishment of the State as the only homeland for the Jewish people. That is to say, the creation of a Jewish State in the land of Israel, the ingathering of the Jewish exiles, in particular after the unfolding horrors of the Holocaust, and the preservation of a strong bond between the State of Israel and other Jewish communities around the world.

The Law of Return of 1950 and the Nationality Law of 1952 provide a right for Jews to immigrate to Israel and to automatically acquire Israeli nationality. This privilege, granted as part of Israel’s immigration policy, is clearly a domestic matter, subject to the sovereign discretion of the State. However, it should also be emphasized that non-Jews are not prevented from immigrating to Israel, nor are there any restrictions on any particular group. Non-Jews who wish to acquire Israeli citizenship may duly apply for such citizenship in accordance with Israel’s Nationality Law.

In this respect, Israel is not different from most other States, which upon attaining their statehood, and in accordance with the principle of self-determination, granted preference for the purpose of obtaining nationality of that State to individuals with certain social, cultural, or ethnic links to the State.

The Committee suggested in its concluding observations that the Law of Return should be placed on an equal footing with a Palestinian claim for a right of return. Israel’s position maintains that a clear distinction should be drawn between its Law of Return and any Palestinian claim to a right of return, and that this subject is presently part of the outstanding issues under negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Non-discrimination of non-Jews in Israel

A recent High Court decision gave great impetus to the principle of non-discrimination of non‑Jews in Israel. The court ruled that it is the duty of the State and of the Israel Lands Administration to give equal treatment for all in respect of land use (HCJ 6698/95 A’dal Ka’adan v. The Israel Lands Administration). The petitioners in this case were an Arab couple wishing to build a home in Katzir, a communal settlement in the Eron River region at the north of Israel. The Jewish Agency in collaboration with the Katzir Cooperative Society established this settlement in 1982 on State land that had been allocated to the Jewish Agency (via the Israel Lands Administration) for such a purpose.

The Katzir Cooperative Society only accepted Jewish members. As such, it refused to accept the petitioners and allow them to build their home in the communal settlement of Katzir. The petitioners claimed that the policy constituted discrimination on the basis of religion or nationality and that the law with regard to State land prohibits such discrimination.

The Supreme Court ruled that land allocation must be on an equal basis, that allotting land for the sole use of Jews in that area was illegal, and that allotting land to the Jewish Agency, when the Agency discriminates, is also illegal as it constitutes indirect discrimination. This ruling reinforced the principle of non-discrimination regarding land use, although it was limited to the particular facts of this case. The general issue of use of State lands for the purposes of settlement raises a wide range of questions. First, the decision in the Ka’adan case is not directed at past allocations of State land. Secondly, it focused on the particular circumstances of the communal settlement of Katzir. In discussing this issue, the Court did not take a position with regard to other types of settlements (such as commune-based kibbutz or moshav).

A multi-year plan for development of Arab-sector communities

Like the Committee, the Israeli Government is also concerned about the need to eliminate gaps between Jews and Arabs in Israel. The following is a comprehensive government resolution, taken in October 2000, regarding all aspects of social development of Arab-sector communities. This decision was taken following thorough preparatory work involving most governmental agencies. The decision, translated in full from the original Hebrew version, is as follows:

“In general

(A)The Government of Israel regards itself as obligated to act to grant equal and fair

conditions to Israeli Arabs in the socio-economic sphere, in particular in the areas of education, housing and employment.

(B)The Government of Israel regards the socio-economic development of the

Arab-sector communities of Israel as contributing toward the growth and development of all of Israel’s society and economy.

(C)The Government shall act for the socio-economic development and advancement

of the Arab-sector communities and to reduce the gaps between the Arab and Jewish sectors, pursuant to the following plan, as set forth by the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministerial Committee on Arab-sector Affairs in cooperation with the Director-General of the Prime Minister’s Office and the representatives of the Arab authorities.

(D)The development plan is based on working jointly with the Arab authorities.

This cooperation lays down a position on the recovery plans implemented through the Ministry of the Interior in the various authorities, as well as on the maintenance of good management (the application of municipal bylaws, collection of municipal taxes, compliance with construction laws, etc.).

(E)The cost of the development plan for the Arab-sector communities shall total

NIS 4 billion for the years 2001-2004 (attached are pages 20-23 detailed table - Appendix 1). This sum includes an additional sum of NIS 2 billion in excess of the existing development budgets in the government ministries for the Arab‑sector communities, including NIS 1 billion as an additional payment from the Ministry of Finance for the budget of the ministries. These budgets include the share of the Arab-sector communities in the development budgets of the government ministries designated for the entire population and include all the development budgets for the sector during the term of the plan.

(F)The development plan shall incorporate Arab local authorities and Arab

communities located within regional councils (attached are pages 24-26, list of communities - Appendix 2).

(G)An inter-ministerial team, headed by the Prime Minister’s Office and with the

participation of the Ministry of Finance and other ministerial representatives, as required, shall coordinate the workings of the staff, including the mode of implementation, planning the operations, priorities, budgetary amounts and timetables for performance. The inter-ministerial team shall oversee and control the mode of implementation of the development plan by the government ministries and, in cooperation with the representatives of the Arab sector, shall perform an annual evaluation in relation to performance of the plan.

Ministry of the Interior

(A)General

The Ministry of the Interior shall allocate NIS 412 million for development of Arab‑sector communities, an annual average of NIS 103 million for the years 2001-2004.

(B)Advancement of master schemes, outline schemes and detailed schemes

The Ministry of the Interior shall act to advance the master plans, the outlines and detailed plans in the Arab-sector communities as set forth in Government Resolution No. 1433, dated 30 March 2000, in addition to updating plans in communities where outlines require updating. The plan shall be financed by means of a special budget in the amount of NIS 28 million, approved by government resolution.

The Ministry of the Interior - NIS 9.4 million;

The Israel Lands Administration - NIS 4.75 million;

Local Authorities - NIS 1.25 million;

The Ministry of Finance - NIS 12.7 million.

A joint team of the Ministries of the Interior and Finance, the Israel Lands Administration and the Prime Minister’s Office shall discuss any expansion of scope of performance of planning in additional communities by means of an additional budget of NIS 12 million, taking into account the requirements and the pace of performance of the plans.

(C)The Ministry of the Interior shall allocate NIS 22 million for restoration,

establishment and development of religious institutions in the Arab-sector communities, NIS 5.5 million in each of the years 2001-2004. The sources of funding each year shall be as follows:

The Ministry of the Interior - NIS 4.5 million;

The Ministry of Finance - NIS 1 million.

Ministry of Construction and Housing

(A)Development of older neighbourhoods

The Ministry of Construction and Housing shall coordinate the infrastructure development project in the Arab-sector communities, including new infrastructure and improvement of existing infrastructure, with a budgetary scope of NIS 220 million, an average of NIS 55 million for each of the years 2001-2004, where the sources of funding for each year shall be as follows:

The Ministry of Construction and Housing - NIS 23 million;

The Ministry of Finance - NIS 32 million.

The plan includes NIS 1.025 million per year in the neighbourhoods physical restoration clause - for the purpose of renovating dwellings owned by elderly people living alone. The communities are: Kfar Manda, Kfar Kana, Mashad, Tamra, Majd el-Kroom.

The scheme shall include budgets from the Ministries of Transport, Interior and Construction and Housing for the roads and internal routes as stated in this Resolution and shall be implemented jointly by three government ministries: the

Ministry of Construction and Housing, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of the Interior, coordinated and administered by the Ministry of Construction and Housing and the Prime Minister’s Office.

(B)Development of new neighbourhoods using high-density construction

1.The Ministry of Construction and Housing shall allocate NIS 120 million for development of new neighbourhoods in the Arab-sector communities, to be constructed using high-density public building, mainly on State lands, a total of 5,000 dwelling units, averaging NIS 30 million for each of the years 2001-2004, pursuant to existing arrangements between the ministries and the arrangements to be agreed upon between the ministries following the examination referred to in clause 3 below.

2.Locating the lands for high-density construction shall be implemented in coordination with the Israel Lands Administration, the Ministry of the Interior and the local authorities. The Israel Lands Administration shall transfer the authority for planning and development to the Ministry of Construction and Housing, at its request, for implementation of the plan.

3.The standard of development in the new neighbourhoods shall meet acceptable standards, such that the cost thereof shall not exceed NIS 70,000 per residential unit. The amount of subsidy in the high-density construction shall not exceed NIS 35,000 per residential unit. Those communities to benefit from the subsidy shall be those on the map of national priority areas. Furthermore, the feasibility of encouraging such neighbourhoods in those communities located outside the priority areas shall also be examined.

4.The Ministry of Construction and Housing shall allocate an additional NIS 40 million for the development of new neighbourhoods on private lands located within the bounds of the Arab-sector communities to be constructed using high-density public construction in a total of not less than 50 dwelling units per neighbourhood; NIS 10 million on average for each of the years 2001-2004.

By developing new neighbourhoods on private lands, the aid will include funding for planning (at the detailed plan stage), in addition to contributions toward development in an amount not exceeding 50% of the approved infrastructure tariffs up to a ceiling of NIS 20,000 per residential unit. The budget shall be given to those neighbourhoods and buildings where building permits have been granted after 1 January 2001.

5.Construction density on the sites to be chosen pursuant to this chapter shall not be below six residential units per dunam (net).

(C)Development of public institutions

1.The Ministry of Construction and Housing shall allocate NIS 320 million as participation in the construction of public institutions for cultural, social and sports activities in the Arab-sector communities, an average of NIS 80 million for the years 2001-2004, where the sources of funding shall be as follows:

The Ministry of Construction and Housing - NIS 10 million;

The Ministry of Finance - NIS 70 million.

2.This budget does not include construction of public institutions under the Report of the Committee of the Directors-General on Construction of Public Institutions, but does include budgets to be allocated to public institutions pursuant to other standards in the years 2000-2004.

3.Those institutions to be constructed as first priority shall include community centres of various sizes and sports halls, in large communities with over 5,000 inhabitants and subject to availability of implementation.

4.In the performance of the plan and the scope of participation, supplementary sources of financing shall be taken into account, such as Mifal Hapayis (National Lottery) budgets, public institutions standard budgets and the development budgets of the Ministry of the Interior.

5.The Ministry of Construction and Housing shall set a programme for public building, approve the work plans of the communities and coordinate the implementation of construction of the buildings; the maximum sum for a single public institution shall not exceed the amount determined in the Report of the Committee of the Directors-General on Construction of Public Institutions.

Ministry for National Infrastructure

(A)Administration for Sewage Infrastructure

1.The Administration for Sewage Infrastructure shall make loans and grants available to the Arab-sector authorities for regulation of the internal sewage system, conduit lines and end installations, in accordance with those budgetary restrictions stated in clause 2 hereafter.

2.The Ministry of National Infrastructures shall allocate NIS 400 million for the years 2001-2004, where 50% of this amount is allocated in loans toward solutions to deal with waste in the Arab-sector communities. The allocation shall be made in accordance with needs. The amount shall be increased and allocated by the Ministry for National Infrastructures by the Ministry of Finance.

A joint team of the Ministry for National Infrastructures (the Water Commission and the Sewage Administration), the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister’s Office shall determine by 30 November 2000, the parameters for the plans based on the principle of a grant of up to 50% of the amount of invested capital. As a general rule, the solutions for dealing with waste shall be compiled fully and systematically and shall include, as required, completion of internal systems, conduit lines and end installations. Solutions for utilizing purified waste water shall be funded from the budget designated for this purpose by the Ministry for National Infrastructures.

3.The Administration for Sewage Infrastructure shall direct the Arab-sector authorities in regulating those matters amounting to a prerequisite for receiving loans and grants, including approval of bylaws.

(B)Israel Lands Administration

The Israel Lands Administration shall allocate NIS 4.75 million as participation toward promoting master plans, outlines and detailed plans for the Arab-sector communities, as set forth in section C, in the section on the Ministry of the Interior, above.

Ministry of Transport

(A)Internal roads

The Ministry of Transport shall allocate NIS 180 million for implementing internal road systems and safety projects in the Arab-sector communities; NIS 45 million for each of the years 2001-2004.

(B)Regional roads

The Public Works Administration (Ma’atz)

The Public Works Administration shall allocate about NIS 325 million for the development of a network of roads in the areas of the Arab-sector communities; NIS 81.25 million for each of the years 2001-2004.

Ministry of Trade and Industry

(A)Development of industrial zones

The Ministry of Trade and Industry shall allocate NIS 120 million in the years 2001-2004 for locating suitable areas and developing infrastructures in six industrial zones in densely-populated Arab areas common to a number of authorities, subject to planning availability and economic analysis. Funding sources shall be, on average as follows:

The Ministry of Trade and Industry - an average of NIS 15 million;

The Ministry of Finance - an average of NIS 15 million;

The budgetary expenditures shall not be subject to income from development of the areas.

(B)Benefits to industrial zones

All the benefits awarded to enterprises located in industrial zones in national priority areas (aid, grants, discounts, etc.), within the ambit of the Encouragement of Capital Investments Law, based on geographic location, shall apply to the industrial zones in section A above. The Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister’s Office shall examine additional modes of encouraging the above industrial zones.

(C)Development of trade and services areas

The Ministry of Trade and Industry shall allocate NIS 80 million for development of services and trade areas in the Arab-sector communities, subject to planning availability and an economic analysis, NIS 20 million for each of the years 2001‑2004. Funding sources shall be as follows:

Ministry of Trade and Industry - NIS 10 million;

Ministry of Finance - NIS 10 million;

The budgetary expenditures shall be made available, without being contingent on income.

Ministry of Tourism

(A)Tourism infrastructure

The Ministry of Tourism shall allocate NIS 20 million for development of tourism infrastructure in the Arab-sector communities, NIS 5 million for each of the years 2001‑2004.

(B)Guest rooms

The Ministry of Tourism shall allocate NIS 4 million to support setting up guest rooms (Tzimmerim) in the Arab-sector communities, according to the rules customary at the Ministry of Tourism, NIS 1 million for each of the years 2001‑2004.

Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development

(A)Agricultural investments

The Ministry of Agriculture shall allocate NIS 20 million to promote investments for the development of agriculture in the Arab-sector communities, NIS 5 million for each of the years 2001-2004.

(B)Beit Natufa Valley Project

Upon the initial analysis of the project, the amount of the investment stands at approximately NIS 60 million. A team of the Ministries of Agriculture, National Infrastructure, Ministry of Finance and Prime Minister’s Office shall examine feasibility and viability of the project, including the possibility of implementing the project in stages, dividing the financing between various government ministries and contribution from other users, beyond the contribution amounting to half of the aforesaid cost to be financed by the Ministry of Finance. The team shall conclude its work within three months.

Ministry of Education

(A)Construction of classrooms

The Ministry of Education shall allocate NIS 700 million for construction of classrooms in elementary and high schools, in addition to pre-compulsory kindergarten classrooms, an average of NIS 175 million for each of the years 2001-2004. Sources of funding each year shall come from the Ministry of Education and Payis (lottery).

(B)Pedagogical plans

The Ministry of Education shall allocate a sum of NIS 280 million in the years 2001‑2004 for various pedagogical plans to advance the education system in the Arab sector, NIS 70 million on average for each of the years 2001-2004. Funding sources for each year shall be as follows:

The Ministry of Education - NIS 50 million;

The Ministry of Finance - NIS 20 million.

(C)Technological education

The Ministry of Education shall allocate NIS 66 million for opening new courses of study in high schools and in post high-school institutions in technological fields, NIS 16.5 million for each of the years 2001-2004. Funding sources (average) each year shall be as follows:

The Ministry of Education - NIS 8.25 million;

The Ministry of Finance - NIS 8.25 million.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs

Vocational training

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs shall allocate a total amount of NIS 268 million for setting up engineering-technician and vocational training courses, NIS 67 million for each of the years 2001-2004.

This clause includes an amount of NIS 24 million for opening supplementary education classes for women, NIS 6 million for each of the years 2001-2004. Funding sources for each year shall be on average as follows:

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs - NIS 47 million;

The Ministry of Finance - NIS 20 million.

Ministry of Health

Health stations

The Ministry of Health shall allocate NIS 10 million for construction of family health stations and oral health stations in the Arab-sector communities, NIS 2.5 million for each of the years 2001-2004. Funding sources (average) for each year shall be as follows:

The Ministry of Health - NIS 1.25 million;

The Ministry of Finance - NIS 1.25 million.

Ministry of Public Security

Police stations

The Ministry of Public Security shall allocate NIS 120 million for construction of police points and stations in the Arab-sector communities, NIS 30 million for each of the years 2001-2004. Funding sources shall be as follows:

The Ministry of Public Security - NIS 10 million;

The Ministry of Finance - NIS 20 million.

Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport

(A)Construction of cultural institutions and sports installations

The Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport shall allocate NIS 28 million for construction of cultural institutions and sports installations, NIS 7 million for each of the years 2001-2004. Funding sources for each year shall average as follows:

The Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport - NIS 3.5 million;

The Ministry of Finance - NIS 3.5 million.

(B)Infrastructure for regional R & D centres

The Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport shall allocate NIS 16 million for improvement of the physical infrastructure of regional R & D centres in the Arab‑sector communities, NIS 4 million for each of the years 2001-2004 from a budgetary supplement from the Ministry of Finance budget.

(C)Support of cultural, artistic and sport activities

The Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport shall allocate NIS 91 million to assist cultural, artistic and sports activities, an average of NIS 22.75 million for each of the years 2001-2004.

Prime Minister’s Office

Operation

The Prime Minister’s Office shall allocate NIS 8 million for operation, overseeing and control of implementation of the plan, including appointment of projectors for promoting the various component parts of the scheme, NIS 2 million.”

The implementation of this decision has already begun, but its full realization still awaits the passage in the Knesset of the annual budget law for the year 2001.

Amendment of the Equal Rights for Women Law, 1951 (2000)

A comprehensive amendment of the Equal Rights for Women Law, 1951 was enacted in April 2000. Please refer to a detailed description of this law provided below under the discussion of article 3 (see also at the end of paragraph 1 above).

Equal Rights for People with Disabilities Law, 1996: Background

On 23 February 1998, the Equal Rights for People with Disabilities Law, 1998 (hereinafter: the “Equality Law”) was adopted by the Knesset, anchoring for the first time the right to equality and human dignity of people with disabilities and creating a new system of obligations for the State of Israel vis-à-vis its disabled residents. The principal impetus for enactment of the Equality Law was “The Report of the Public Committee to Review Comprehensive Legislation in the Matter of the Rights of People with Disabilities” (hereinafter the “Public Committee”) which was submitted to the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in July 1997.

The Equal Rights for People with Disabilities Law came into effect on 1 January 1999. The law, which was eventually adopted by the Knesset, was only part of the original proposed bill. It includes basic principles, general principles, equality of employment, accessibility to public transportation and establishment of a commission on equal rights for people with disabilities. The remaining chapters of the bill were re-tabled before the Fifteenth Knesset within the Equal Rights for People with Disabilities (Amendment - Accessibility, Health, Community Housing and Personal Assistance, Culture, Leisure and Sport, Schooling and Education, the Legal System, Special Needs) Bill, 5760-1999. This bill passed its preliminary reading (22 December 1999) and is currently being debated in the Labour, Social Welfare and Health Committee of the Knesset.

On 1 August 2000, the establishment of the Equal Rights for People with Disabilities Commission was formally announced, and it is presently in its formative stages. Nevertheless, although two years have elapsed since the entry of the Equal Rights for People with Disabilities Law into effect, the majority of its provisions have not yet been fully implemented.

At the same time, and as shall be elaborated hereunder, laws and legislative amendments are being enacted in specific areas promoting the state of rights of particular groups of people with disabilities (the mentally ill, disabled infants, mentally retarded persons, etc.).

On 5 October 1999 a strike was conducted by handicapped persons in Israel, demanding that the Israeli Government grant them basic living conditions and, specifically, the correction of flaws in the area of National Insurance benefits. After 37 days of demonstrating in front of the Ministry of Finance, the Government decided to respond to the demands of the persons with disabilities, and improvements were made to the entitlements of those persons with severe disabilities, in the area of mobility allowances and special services allowances.

Accessibility

Most public buildings and sites in Israel are inaccessible to people with disabilities who are wheelchair-bound. (Government offices, local authority offices, schools, universities, coffee houses, theatres, restaurants, courts, and others.)

An amendment to the Planning and Building Law, 5728-1968, and accompanying regulations at the beginning of the 1980s provided that a building permit would not be granted for a public building if no special arrangements for handicapped persons had been provided for in the plans. However, this arrangement only applied to public buildings. Moreover, the arrangement was based on a distinction between Type A public buildings and Type B public buildings, where the latter, which include, for example, schools, government ministries and local authorities, were only obliged to make special arrangements on one floor in order to obtain a

building permit. The Local Authorities (Provisions for Disabled Persons) Law, 5748-1988, obliges local authorities to lower sidewalks on pedestrian crossings and junctions. Even these minimal provisions are not enforced as they should be.

In general, public transportation in Israel is, to a large extent, inaccessible for persons with disabilities. There are no public buses which a wheelchair-bound person is able to utilize.

The Equal Rights for People with Disabilities Law provides people with disabilities with a right of access to public transportation (city buses, trains, boats, air transport) and charges the Minister of Transport with the enactment of regulations to determine the modes of transportation and the times for arranging accessibility. These regulations have not yet been enacted. Recently a petition was submitted to the High Court of Justice by 20 organizations acting to advance the equality of people with disabilities. In an interim order, the Court ordered the Minister of Transport to submit draft regulations to the Knesset by the commencement of the winter session.

There was a recent importation of a new type of taxi-cab suitable for wheelchair-confined persons.

The Knesset and Prime Minister Elections Law (Consolidated Version), 5729-1969, prescribes an unequal arrangement concerning the accessibility of polling stations for people with disabilities, primarily aimed at providing at least one accessible polling station for every 20,000 residents. A similar arrangement is provided in the Local Authorities (Elections) Law, 5725-1965. Following a petition to the High Court of Justice on the eve of the last elections for the Fifteenth Knesset and Prime Minister, the Elections Law was amended by a transitional provision whereby every person with mobility disabilities may vote in his own area of residence at any polling station for disabled persons, by a method of “double envelopes”. This transitional provision is essentially not valid with respect to future elections.

Information services are not accessible to people with sensory disabilities (people who are visually challenged, the blind, people who are hard of hearing or deaf).

Television programmes are not accessible to people who are hard of hearing or deaf: the Deaf Persons Relief Law, 5752-1992 includes two provisions requiring the Broadcasting Authority: (a) to translate at least one news programme a week into sign language; (b) to accompany a quarter of those broadcasts which are not live broadcasts with subtitles - Hebrew broadcasts with Hebrew subtitles, and Arabic broadcasts with subtitles in Arabic. As a result of two petitions to the High Court of Justice (1994), every Thursday the Broadcasting Authority now translates the late night news into sign language. This programme is broadcast at 23h 30. A petition was recently filed (22 August 2000) in the High Court of Justice by the Bekol Association, an organization for the hard of hearing and hearing impaired, requesting an order that the Broadcasting Authority fulfil its obligation under the Deaf Persons Relief Law and accompany one-quarter of its aforesaid broadcasts with subtitles. An interim order was granted by the court.

Unfortunately, women with disabilities still face severe discrimination in the area of access to health services, in general, and in particular in the area of gynaecological care.

The proposed bill on equal rights for people with disabilities which is now pending before the Knesset and which was mentioned above, includes an innovative and comprehensive arrangement in the area of physical, sensory and social accessibility.

Employment

Unfortunately, unemployment rates among people with disabilities are relatively high. In a survey conducted by the Service for the Blind of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, it was found that the rate of unemployment of blind persons was 72 per cent (March 1997). The estimate of the Rehabilitation Department of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare with respect to the rate of unemployment among people with severe disabilities, physical illness, mental illnesses and retardation is 70-75 per cent unemployment. In a needs survey (1992), unemployment levels among deaf people aged 30-64 were found to be at 18‑22 per cent. Moreover, experts in this field have indicated professional flaws in the policies of employment rehabilitation of people with disabilities in Israel. In particular, these experts have indicated that there is insufficient referral toward the free market, as opposed to segregated employment frameworks which fail to utilize the qualifications and personal employment potential of such employees.

People with disabilities in Israel earn low wages. The Minimum Wage Law, 5747-1987 does not apply to protected enterprises and employees who “earn” several hundred shekels, unrelated to their output. Section 17 (a) of the Law authorizes the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs to prescribe in Regulations that the provisions of the Law will apply with respect to employees who have physical, mental or intellectual handicaps and are employed in protected enterprises in which the State Treasury participates in their budget. The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs has yet to enact such Regulations. In 1997, the Minimum Wage Law was amended (section 17 (b)) and the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs was authorized to prescribe in regulations a reduced minimum wage for people with disabilities employed in the free market. The regulations have yet to be enacted. (Draft regulations were recently circulated for the comments of the relevant government ministries and public organizations.)

The Equal Rights for People with Disabilities Law stipulates the right of people with disabilities to employment equality. Section 8 of the law prohibits discrimination in employment on the grounds of disability and includes an obligation to make reasonable adjustments. Pursuant to the Law, the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs and the Minister of Finance are charged with the enactment of regulations to determine State participation in financing the adjustments. Such regulations have not yet been enacted. Section 9 of the Law prescribes, as a transitional provision for seven years, the duty of a person who employs in excess of 25 employees to ensure fair representation of people with disabilities. In addition, section 28 of the Law contains an indirect amendment to the State Service (Appointments) Law, 5719-1959 with respect to the duty of fair representation of people with disabilities in the State Service.

Since the date that this law came into effect, no activity has yet been undertaken to promote the aforesaid fair representation. Section 16 of the law prescribes that the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs shall initiate and develop programmes for employment rehabilitation of people with disabilities and that he shall submit a report each year on this matter to the Labour, Social Welfare and Health Committee of the Knesset. As of the present time, no such report has been submitted to the Knesset. Draft regulations regarding the granting of priority to people with disabilities in being given parking spaces at workplaces was recently submitted by the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs to the Labour, Social Welfare and Health Committee of the Knesset and a meeting was convened for the approval thereof. Last year the Bar Association (Examination Arrangements in the Laws of the State of Israel and Practical Matters) Rules, 5723-1962 was amended, and it now provides as follows:

(a)With respect to a written examination under Rule 18B, the examining committee, at the request of an examinee who is a person with a disability, within the meaning in the Equal Rights for People with Disabilities Law, 5758-1998, may determine for such person appropriate modifications on account of the disability which shall ensure that he or she will be examined under conditions which are equal, as far as possible, to those of the other examinees.

Community housing (art. 11 of the Covenant)

One of the problems that people with disabilities are still facing in Israel is the preference for institutional frameworks, as opposed to living in the community, particularly for mentally‑handicapped and mentally ill people. Thousands of people with disabilities in Israel live in remote and crowded institutions, outside the community and under depersonalized conditions, severely infringing upon their privacy and personal autonomy.

Leading professionals in this field have already determined that the quality of life and development of people with disabilities at all levels improves when they live in the community, in their natural environment. The situation in Israel stands in contrast to this:

(a)Out of 7,400 intellectually retarded people living outside their homes, approximately 6,000 of them are living in 53 institutions. New institutions are continually being constructed. Families and associations wishing to exercise the right of mentally retarded people to live in community housing are restrained by the authorities. The major part of the budget in the area of housing for people with disabilities is steered toward institutions;

(b)In Israel there are 6,700 people hospitalized in psychiatric hospitals. Over half of these people are hospitalized only due to a lack of any framework of community housing, rather than on clinical grounds (letter from the Ministry of Health to the Public Committee dated 4 March 1997);

(c)In March 1999, the Public Committee submitted a report on the examination of the condition of mentally ill Holocaust survivors hospitalized in psychiatric hospitals in Israel. The findings were particularly grave with respect to State treatment of these Holocaust survivors;

(d)This phenomenon of institutionalization also includes scores of people with physical disabilities living in institutions and even in hospital.

The Equal Rights for People with Disabilities (Amendment - Accessibility, Health, Community Housing and Personal Assistance, Culture, Leisure and Sport, Schooling and Education, the Legal System, Special Needs) Bill, 5760-1999, which is currently pending before the Knesset includes an arrangement in the area of housing, principally the anchoring of the right of the disabled person to live in the community and the obligation of the State to grant the disabled person assistance which will guarantee the actual realization of this right.

Recently, Amendment 4 to the Welfare (Treatment of Mentally Handicapped Persons) Law, 5729-1969, was enacted by the Knesset. This amendment provides an obligation for the State to allocate resources for housing frameworks and day frameworks for mentally retarded persons and further provides that when determining the type of housing framework, the assessment committee will give priority to community housing.

On 5 July 2000, the Rehabilitation of Mentally Disabled People in the Community Law, 5760‑2000, was enacted, prescribing the right of a mentally- disabled person to a rehabilitation basket in the community, including in the areas of housing, employment, completion of education, society, leisure and others.

Education (art 13)

Pupils, parents and teachers who are wheelchair-bound are unable to enter the large majority of school buildings in Israel, as well as classrooms and various study and social facilities. As stated above (see the section on accessibility above), the law suffices with making one floor accessible in a school, even where there are modern buildings with many floors and levels. Even this minimalist legislation is not sufficiently enforced. In the case of Botzer et al v. “Maccabim-Reut” Local Council et al, 50 (1) P.D. 19, the High Court of Justice determined (in March 1996) the right of a wheelchair-bound pupil to independent, safe and dignified accessibility at school. However, this precedent did not bring about any meaningful change beyond that particular case, and the Ministry of Education has still not prepared any multi-year plan on accessibility in schools in Israel.

The objective of the Ministry of Education is to integrate pupils with disabilities into the ordinary education system. However, for many years the view has prevailed in the Ministry of Education that pupils with disabilities who are integrated in regular schools lose their basket of rights under the law. The numerous complaints reaching the Ministry of Education on this matter, and regarding the state of special education in Israel in general, led former Minister of Education, Yossi Sarid, to appoint a “Committee to Examine the Implementation of the Special Education Law”. On 20 July 2000, the Committee submitted the report on its recommendations, the main points of which were: recognition of the right of pupils with special needs to study together with children of their own age, to reach results according to their ability by being allowed to realize their potential, and the duty of society to prevent this right from being forfeited, other than in exceptional cases, taking into consideration the wishes of the family.

A gap still exists, in the area of special education, between the Jewish sectors and minority sectors: most children with disabilities in the Arab and Bedouin sectors do not study in educational frameworks which meet their needs; schools for special education for minorities which exist in these sectors do not answer the minimum level of conditions required in an educational framework. Children of various ages and with various disabilities study in the same classes, and there is a severe lack of professional personnel to deal with those children having special needs, such as speech therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and others. The Ministry of Education recently made a renewed declaration concerning its policy of closing gaps in this area within four years. This period of time is necessary in order to train special teachers in these areas who speak Arabic who will be able to work with such children.

The Rehabilitative Day-Care Centres Law, 2000, a private initiative, was recently enacted. This new law sets out the right of an infant with severe disabilities to treatment in a rehabilitative day care centre, on the basis of a basket of services (the Law came into effect on 9 April 2001).

The Equal Rights for People with Disabilities (Amendment - Accessibility, Health, Community Housing and Personal Assistance, Culture, Leisure and Sport, Schooling and Education, the Legal System, Special Needs) Bill, 5760-1999, which is currently pending before the Knesset includes a chapter anchoring the right of a person with disabilities to education and schooling according to his needs.

Culture and leisure (art. 15)

As is generally known, recreation and leisure are taking up increasingly more time in the modern life of individuals. This area is no less important for people with disabilities. Israel has a diverse cultural life. However, people with disabilities, both adults and children, are often not able to partake in such activities as most cultural and leisure sites are still inaccessible to persons with physical or sensory disabilities (see above). Further, most cultural activities taking place are not accessible to people with intellectual retardation. In addition, local governments which are in charge of these areas have no national planning, there is no special department and there is no exclusive budget for activity for people with disabilities. As a result of this lack of appropriate attention to the special needs of adults and children with disabilities in this area, their social isolation increases.

The Equal Rights for People with Disabilities (Amendment - Accessibility, Health, Community Housing and Personal Assistance, Culture, Leisure and Sport, Schooling and Education, the Legal System, Special Needs) Bill, 5760-1999, which is currently pending before the Knesset includes a provision imposing an obligation on the State to initiate and develop programmes in the areas of culture, leisure and sport for people with disabilities, giving priority to their integration into regular programmes.

3. International cooperation

No changes have occurred since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Article 3: Prohibition of discrimination between men and women

Since Israel’s initial report several important developments have taken place.

The Authority for the Advancement of the Status Women

An Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women was established under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office, in pursuance with the Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women Law, 1998. The Authority is invested with advisory powers and may suggest policies to the Government, which are designed to advance women, promote gender equality, eliminate discrimination against women and prevent domestic violence targeted against women. In addition, the Authority supervises, inter alia, the gender policies of the different governmental bodies, monitors the implementation in Israel of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, promotes public awareness on the need to advance women and initiates legislative proposals and research.

The following are the main programmes and achievements of the Authority:

Enforcement of laws relating to women’s rights in the workplace, including equal pay, equal opportunities, prevention of discrimination; and shattering of the “glass ceiling”;

Institution of a Programme for Gender Equality in the schools, currently implemented throughout the educational system, from pre-schools through teacher-training colleges throughout the country. This programme is scheduled to run for four years;

Consolidation and monitoring of funds allocated to the advancement of the status of women in the various ministries and statutory authorities, in order to maximize efficiency;

Initiation of an out-reach programme for the early detection of breast cancer among hard-to-reach populations;

Establishment of an informative Web site for women;

Initiation of a project of informative and educational lectures and programmes for civil servants and in the Israel Defense Forces;

Sponsorship of a series of literacy projects for women in the Arab and Bedouin sectors; this programme is the result of the express requests of the women themselves; and

Sponsorship of a project of empowerment among single-parent families headed by women, focusing on skills needed for finding and maintaining employment.

A detailed survey of these programmes is provided in the Authority’s National Report on the Status of Women in Israel “Beijing 5+”, published in June 2000 (and provided in annex III to the present second periodic report).*

Amendment of the Equal Rights for Women Law, 1951 (2000)

The Equal Rights for Women Law, 1951 was comprehensively amended in April 2000. (The full text of the amended law is provided in annex IV to this present Second Periodic Report.) The following are the principal amendments:

(a)A paragraph was added to state the purpose of the law, which is “to prescribe principles to guarantee full equality between men and women, in the spirit of the principles of the Declaration of Establishment of the State of Israel”;

(b)A provision was introduced permitting affirmative action, in order “to rectify a former or existing discrimination against women” or for the “advancement of equality of women”;

(c)A set of rights were added:

“Any woman or man has an equal right to an existence in human dignity, including equality at work, in education, health, housing, environmental protection and social welfare”;

The right of a woman concerning her body;

The right to protection from violence, sexual harassment, sexual abuse and traffic of women;

The right to adequate representation of women in all public services;

(d)As already mentioned above (under art. 2 in para. 1) the new section 6 states as follows:

Any woman or man has the equal right to an existence in human dignity, including equality at work, in education, health, housing, environmental protection and social welfare.

Lastly, mention should be made that all the above provisions shall not affect the validity of any law in force at the eve of commencement of the amending law. This is also true for the regulation of age retirement and pension plans for women regulated by collective agreements.

The Prevention of Sexual Harassment Law, 1998

Undoubtedly, one of the most progressive pieces of legislation enacted in recent years in Israel has been the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Law, 5758-1998.

This law passed its final reading in the Knesset in 1998 on International Women’s Day and entered into force six months later, on 20 September 1998. During the course of the legislative process, women’s NGOs presented their experiences, showing that a significant proportion of Israeli women were subjected to advances, remarks or contact of a sexual nature, which are unwanted and unwelcome, or suffer from threats or offers of remuneration for the purpose of sexual gratification. As in other countries, sexual harassment occurs in the workplace as well as in other social contexts.

Prior to the enactment of the law, the only express statutory provision relating to sexual harassment was to be found in section 7 of the Employment (Equal Opportunities) Law, 1988. This provision prohibited explicitly sexual harassment of the “quid pro quo” variety, i.e. adverse treatment in the work context, such as dismissal or denial of work-related benefits, in return for failure to respond to sexual advances. There was no clear statutory provision which related to any other form of sexual harassment, such as the creation of a “hostile work environment”, or which dealt with sexual harassment occurring outside the workplace.

Benefiting from the social and legal lessons of a number of countries, the new law comprises a number of innovative provisions:

(a)The purpose of the law, as stated in the opening section, “is to protect human dignity, liberty and privacy and to promote equality between the sexes”. The wide scope of this section on the purpose of the law was deliberate and based on the experience of a number of countries, where the courts have developed sexual harassment law on the basis of general anti‑discrimination provisions. The initiators of the new legislation, which included Dr. Orit Kamir of Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and the Israel Women’s Network, were of the opinion that it was important for the new legislation not to fall into the trap of classifying sexual harassment as a problem of discrimination alone. Thus, various questions, such as whether the law relates to sexual harassment of men or same-sex sexual harassment, would be avoided;

(b)At the centre of the new law are the definitions of sexual harassment and “adverse treatment” or “retaliation”. The law rejects any kind of objective test, i.e. a test that would define sexual harassment as an act that a reasonable person would treat as harassment. Rather the core definitions of sexual harassment (s.3 (a) (4) and (5)) prescribe a subjective test, requiring the recipient of repeated references or proposals of a sexual nature to show that he or she is not interested in such proposals. ‘‘Showing lack of interest” need not be verbal, it can be by conduct, but in general, the law takes the view that recipients must themselves object to acts which are potentially sexual harassment. A number of important exceptions were made to this rule and they appear in the definition of sexual harassment. The exceptions fall into two categories: the first being acts such as indecent acts or blackmail where the act itself is of a serious criminal nature; the second being when the act has been committed by exploiting a position of authority, e.g. education, medical treatment or employment;

(c)Unlike other countries, under the Israeli law sexual harassment and adverse treatment are both criminal offences and civil wrongs, and this dual approach would seem to express the serious view taken by Israeli society in relation to acts of sexual harassment and adverse treatment. The law addresses harassment of women in a broad range of situations, involving relationships of authority and dependence, employment and medical treatment;

(d)Of prime importance are the provisions relating to employers’ responsibilities. Based on the law in other countries, such as the United States of America, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia, employers are required to take reasonable measures to prevent the occurrence of sexual harassment or other adverse treatment committed by one of its employees in the work context. Employers and co-workers are also required to institute a complaints procedure. An employer who employs more than 25 employees is required to publish a code of practice on sexual harassment, based on the model code of practice published by the Minister of Justice with the agreement of the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. An employer who does not comply with these special statutory obligations is held to be vicariously liable for acts of sexual harassment committed by his employees in the work context.

Feedback received in the last 18 months since the law came into force shows that the law is being implemented, and that there is a dramatic increase in the number of complaints filed concerning sexual harassment, particularly in the workplace and in the army. Women’s organizations that campaigned for the law stress that they are now able to give legal assistance to women who have been sexually harassed whereas such women had no legal redress prior to the enactment of the new law. In fact, only recently the Israeli courts convicted a former high‑ranking government minister of violating the law, after his former subordinates filed complaints against his alleged misconduct.

Domestic violence against women

Protection from violence is provided at 12 shelters for battered women, located throughout the country. Due to their particular cultural and religious needs, there are special centres for Arab women and for ultra-Orthodox Jewish women. Together, these shelters provide emergency intervention for nearly 1,600 women and children yearly. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs covers 75 per cent of the cost of these shelters, and the remaining 25 per cent is provided by women’s volunteer organizations. In recognition of the particular needs of the Arab community, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs covers 100 per cent of the operating costs of that shelter.

The shelters provide professional counselling, legal advice and assistance, childcare and rehabilitation. Several shelters also have multilingual staff and volunteers in order to assist immigrant women. Children continue in community-based day care or elementary school frameworks while residing in the shelter. However, some shelters restrict, for reasons of space, the number of children a woman can bring with her to the shelter. In addition, there are 30 transitional apartments which provide women with additional options when they are ready to leave the shelters.

A unique shelter for abusive men who have been removed from their homes by court injunctions has been established. In this shelter, the men receive group and individual treatment, as well as consciousness-raising and behaviour modification opportunities.

At least 10 hotlines are devoted to battered women throughout the country; one is devoted to Arabic speakers, while Russian and Amharic speakers are available on most of the others. Callers receive advice and information from trained volunteers.

The Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women (AASW) has initiated a programme of workshops in all government ministries regarding violence against women.

Police treatment of domestic violence

Police personnel currently receive special training for dealing with family violence. Police policy provides that domestic violence be treated as a violent crime and that the victim be protected. Furthermore, the police may continue to investigate a complaint of violence even if the woman withdraws her complaint. However, as in most countries, the majority of abused women do not file complaints with the police.

The police also have the prerogative of filing a report even if the abused woman declines to do so. Women’s organizations report cooperation with the police generally effective, and the Minister of Public Security has appointed an Advisor on Violence Against Women.

There are 25 centres for the Prevention of Violence in the Family located throughout the country. These centres are jointly funded and administered by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, women’s organizations, and the local authorities. The centres provide direct treatment, visiting centres where parents and children who have been separated can meet (under supervision if necessary), legal advice and research and information.

A women’s NGO, in conjunction with Physicians for Human Rights, has developed a project to train multidisciplinary emergency room staff and to improve their sensitivity and their treatment of women suffering from battering and violence. The three-session training course includes lectures and small-group workshops, as well as work with the hospital’s administration and management. Based on a pilot trial, the project has been extended to four hospitals.

The law has recognized the “battered women’s syndrome”, acknowledging the right of a battered woman to defend herself against her attacker and effectively broadening the definition of “self-defense”.

Furthermore, the Knesset has passed an amendment to the Penal Code to allow the courts to impose more lenient sentences on victims of severe abuse who have been convicted of murdering the perpetrator of the abuse. While the amendment is not limited to abuse within the family, it seems that this will be among its most important applications.

Israel’s eight rape crisis centres receive over 10,000 referrals each year. These centres also maintain hotlines and provide educational services. Public support for the rape crisis centres remains low; donations and contributions provide most of the support. The centres report that while police directives are meant to provide sensitive and effective care for the victim, the implementation of these directives is not uniform throughout the country. Moreover, in Israel, as in other countries, assaulted women are often reluctant to contact the police.

In March 1995, the Knesset appointed a Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry to investigate the subject of women murdered by their spouses and life partners. The mandate of the Committee was further broadened to include the investigation of violence against women. The Inquiry Committee presented its conclusion and recommendations in June 1996. This comprehensive report analysed the causes of domestic violence, the adequacy and efficacy of existing services, and gaps in the provision of service. The report presented comprehensive, integrated and binding recommendations to each of the relevant ministries.

The Government decided in 1998 to establish an inter-ministerial committee to deal with issues of law enforcement and strengthening of existing services. The committee was chaired by the Director-General of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and included representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office, the AASW, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and women’s organizations. In 1997-1998, the Prime Minister’s office sponsored a national media campaign against violence against women, including a National Hotline and Referral Service.

Additional information

For further information regarding gender equality, please refer to the forthcoming Second Periodic Report of the State of Israel on the Implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), especially with regard to:

Women in political and public life, following the 1998 municipal elections and the 1999 national elections;

Women in the Israel Defense Army, following legislative and policy changes, almost equalizing opportunities of women in the military service;

Domestic violence and trafficking of women, following recent legislative changes;

Updated data on women’s situation in the realms of employment, health and education; and

Affirmative action regarding appointments of women in the public service, following a landmark decision of Israel’s Supreme Court.

Article 6: The right to work

Related international conventions binding Israel

Since its initial report under the Covenant, Israel submitted updated reports under the following International Labour Organization Conventions, which relate to the years 1998-1999:

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111);

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122);

Forced Labour Convention (No. 29).

Employment and unemployment: Level and trends

From 1997 through 1999, economic expansion in Israel was very moderate. GDP (gross domestic product) grew (in constant prices) by 3 per cent in 1997 and by 2.2 per cent in the years 1998 and 1999. According to the Bank of Israel’s Annual Report, 1999, during 1999, “There was a turnaround in economic activity. After falling in the first quarter of the year, GDP grew sharply for the rest of 1999. Accelerated activity was led by a recovery in domestic demand and in exports and was accompanied by an increase in the current-account deficit.”

In 1999, GDP reached NIS 417.4 billion (in current prices), approximately US$ 101 billion, based on the average exchange rate for the shekel in 1999. Per capita GDP averaged US$ 16,600 (in current prices) for the 1997-1999 period, up from US$14,700 in the 1993-1996 period. However, in each year 1997 through 1999, growth in population exceeded growth in aggregate GDP so that GDP per capita fell by almost 6 per cent between 1997 and 1999.

The expansion of economic activity beginning in the second quarter of 1999 was also accompanied by a decline in the unemployment rate, which had increased from 1996 to 1999, while employment continued its moderate growth.

As noted in Israel’s initial report, 2 million persons were employed in Israel in 1996. This increased to 2.1 million in 1999, a rise of 2 per cent per year since 1996. Unemployment, however, also rose steadily, from 6.7 per cent in 1996, to 7.7 per cent in 1997, 8.5 per cent in 1998 and 8.9 per cent in 1999. It reached a high of 9.7 per cent (seasonally unadjusted) in the third quarter of 1999, declined to 8.8 per cent in the last quarter of 1999 and then to an average of 8.2 per cent in the first half of 2000. New immigrants, mainly from the former Soviet Union, have continued to arrive in Israel, albeit at a slower pace on the average, than in the earlier years of the decade. Between 1996 and 1999, Israel’s labour force grew by close to 9 per cent, in large part due to the entry of new immigrants into the labour market.

Employment trends among particular categories of workers

Below is an updated table showing the changes in employment and unemployment of various categories of Israeli workers. (More complete data is provided in Table 7 of this section.)

Table 1

	Employment (average annual % change)	Unemployment rate (%)
1991-1996	1996-1999	1996	1997	1998	1999
Total	4.9	2.0	6.7	7.7	8.5	8.9
Jews	4.7	1.9	6.7	7.6	8.2	8.5
Arabs and others	6.3	2.5	6.2	8.1	10.7	11.4
Men	3.8	0.8	5.8	6.8	8.0	8.5

Table 1 (continued)

	Employment (average annual % change)	Unemployment rate (%)
1991-1996	1996-1999	1996	1997	1998	1999
Women	6.5	3.5	7.8	8.8	9.2	9.4
Aged15-17	6.5	-7.9	19.7	21.2	21.8	18.6
18-24	8.8	0.7	12.8	14.2	16.5	16.6
45-54	10.6	6.5	4.5	5.7	6.4	6.6
55-64	4.7	1.0	4.8	5.1	6.6	6.7
Development areas	10.0	2.7	10.5	12.7	11.5	11.9
New immigrants	35.3	9.5	9.3	10.0	11.2	11.4

Source: Israel, Central Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force Surveys.

As noted above, in 1997 to 1999, employment increased relatively slowly compared to the five preceding years (2 per cent per year in 1997-1999 as compared to 4.9 per cent per year in 1991‑1996). In the period 1997-1999, the rise in employment was particularly pronounced among new immigrants, averaging 9.5 per cent per year. Employment among the very young, aged 15-17, declined by 8 per cent and remained stable among those aged 18-24, both of these developments reflecting the long-term trends in these age groups toward extended education and army service, as well as the effects of slower economic activity in those years.

With respect to unemployment, the highest rates continue to be found among young workers aged 15 through 24. Unemployment was also particularly high among Arabs and other non-Jewish population groups in Israel, as well as among residents of development areas and new immigrants.

Employment policies

As foreseen in Israel’s initial report, unemployment has increased since 1997. Rising unemployment has necessitated a re-evaluation of employment and unemployment policies and measures, as described below. To the extent that data for 2000 is available, the trend seems to have been reversed during the year 2000.

Most of the increase in unemployment since 1996 stems from a slowdown in economic activity in Israel and from exposure to globalization, with relatively small enterprises and enterprises whose products face competition from imports being particularly vulnerable to the situation. The employees of such firms are typically older workers and those with lower education levels. It is almost certain that in some of these enterprises labour laws are not observed as they should be. The data show that during the past three years the proportion of long-term unemployed has risen sharply from 12 per cent to 16-17 per cent of the labour force.

Although data for the end of 1999 and the first half of 2000 indicate the possibility of sustained improvement in the employment situation in Israel, the significant rise in unemployment during 1997, 1998 and most of 1999 required the formulation and implementation of new employment policies and measures.

In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of the need for greater government intervention to assist the unemployed whose chances of returning to work would be hampered without such assistance. Various government ministries are involved in income maintenance programmes and vocational training to help the unemployed.

Unemployment among new immigrants to Israel continues to be a problem. As shown in the table above, unemployment among new immigrants rose steadily from 9.3 per cent in 1996 to 11.4 per cent in 1999. Such rates were substantially higher than the average for the economy as a whole in those years. From 1997 through 1999, the influx of new immigrants averaged 66,500 per year. The proportion of new immigrants in the labour force rose from 12 per cent in 1996 to 17 per cent in 1999.

Programmes to improve job opportunities for new immigrants, as well as the unemployed among other groups in the labour force, have included principally:

Streamlining of the public Employment Service activities to encourage employers to seek workers through the Employment Service and to improve the matching of job vacancies with job seekers;

Temporary employment programmes in the public sector;

Vocational training, retraining and on-the-job training.

As shown in Table 1 (annexed to the section on article 6), the rate of unemployment among the Israeli Arab population is higher than among the Israeli Jewish population. The Government’s resolution adopted in October 2000, as set out in full in article 2 above, attempts to address this gap by allocating additional resources for vocational training for this sector of the population.

Regarding unemployment among the Bedouin population, their rate of unemployment today is more than 20 per cent, as measured by accepted international definitions, compared to 8.3 per cent among the population as a whole. In recent years, the Government has undertaken projects to reduce the extent of unemployment among the Bedouin, including vocational training for adults and subsidized employment, particularly in areas related to tourism, such as in national parks and at archaeological sites.

With respect to unemployment among women, four authorities are currently actively engaged in Israel in promoting employment opportunities for women: the Authority for the Status of Women in the Prime Minister’s Office; the Knesset Committee to Advance the Status of Women; the Unit for the Advancement and Integration of Women in the Civil Service Commission; and the Unit for Advancement of Women in the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

With respect to women’s advancement in government service, in 1999 the Unit for the Advancement and Integration of Women brought before the Civil Service Commissioner, recommendations to require each government office to carry out a detailed investigation of women’s advancement, to set specific goals on women’s appointments for each government office, to include the subject of women’s status in all educational activities undertaken by the Civil Service Commission and to promote changes in the State Service Law to make the director‑general of each government office directly responsible for implementing the law in his or her office.

With respect to employment opportunities for women in Israel, the Authority for the Status of Women and the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women focused in 1999 and 2000 on the following areas: an initiative to train women soldiers in new military skills reserved in the past for men; an initiative to open new positions in the police force for policewomen with better prospects of advancement and higher salaries; encouragement to Arab women to join the police force; and encouragement of Arab women to train as social workers in the Arab sector which currently lacks sufficient social workers.

The public works’ programmes noted in Israel’s initial report have been continued since 1996 in an effort to find temporary solutions for the unemployed. The Government’s interest in extending the scope of these projects should be noted, particularly among the long-term unemployed who have lost their skills and work habits. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs is developing programmes which combine vocational training and/or general education courses with employment on public works projects to increase the skills of such persons for the long term. Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs data indicate that in 1997, an average of 870 unemployed were working an average of about 18 days per month. This rose in 1998 to 1,280 persons working 17 days per month and, in 1999, to approximately 1,700 persons employed 17 days a month (see below “vocational guidance”).

The Government’s long-term economic programmes continue to emphasize the measures noted in Israel’s initial report.

Employment and individual freedom: The right to work as a constitutional right

Decisions issued by Israel’s Labour Courts in the last four years have included general statements which would appear to accord to the “right to work” a basic value, deriving it either from the basic right to human dignity or from the right to freedom of occupation (Jerusalem District Labour Court 54/3-289 Dr. Orly Peret v. Amitzur Farkash, 9 January1996; District Labour Courts Reports, vol. 5, p. 632); (National Labour Court 300337/98 Tayizy Arian v. The Courts’ Administration, 20 January 2000; National Labour Court Reports, vol. 33 (1), p. 20).

However, in none of the cases did such a right make a difference by itself. Thus, it is fair to assess that the constitutional status of the right to work is still an open issue.

The right to work as a statutory right

Since Israel’s initial report, an additional case of statutory protection of security of employment was introduced. The Women’s Labour Law was amended in 2000, prohibiting the dismissal of a woman due to an absence from work where it is necessary for her to hide from her battering husband.

Scholars and workers’ organizations have lately criticized the Employment of Workers by Labour Contractors Law, 1996, described in the initial report. The National Labour Court also pointed out, in a few occasions, flaws in the existing law, especially in cases where the use of contract labour was made for long periods. In the leading case of Tzvi Shaffir the Court stated:

I consider the form of employment through contract labour agencies or contractors, for long periods of time, as a negative trend in labour relations, detrimental to the protection of workers provided by labour law, both at the individual and the collective level … A person employed for a long period by one same user enterprise should be considered as the user’s employee. Otherwise, there will exist two classes of workers at the workplace: those protected by the collective agreements and extension orders applying to the user and those deemed to be employed by the manpower agency which is not bound by these agreements and orders … Such workers become a kind of ‘outlaws’ within the user’s workplace.

National Labour Court 57/3-56 Tzvi Shaffir v. Netiv Bitzuah Taassyaty Inc. National Labour Court Reports, vol. 32, p. 241.

Responding to such concerns, the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs initiated a draft bill in 1999 aimed at radically reforming the existing law. While the Government was still discussing this proposed bill, a private Knesset member succeeded in passing a private members bill. As a result, the law was radically changed in 2000.

The amendment limits the use of workers through such contractors to a maximum of nine months, plus six additional months by special permit of the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. It also stipulates that a contract labour worker posted in the same user enterprise over the said time limit will automatically be considered as the user enterprise’s employee. Additionally, a contract worker is entitled, from his first day at the user enterprise, to the same rights enjoyed by the user enterprise’s employees of similar occupation and seniority at the workplace.

This amendment took effect only in January 2001. It constitutes a major reform, affecting about 6 per cent of the salaried in Israel. Thus, a period of adjustment before its entry into force was necessary. However, even this period was deemed insufficient, at least for the public sector. The amendment necessitates a reconsideration of the form of employment of thousands of contract labour workers posted in the public sector. For this reason, the Government requested the Knesset to postpone the entry into force of this amendment to January 2002, in order to complete its reorganization. This request is still pending in the Knesset.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs is now completing a systematic survey in order to quantify and qualify the population of contract labour employees in Israel. Detailed factual information will therefore be provided in future reports.

Concerning the administrative control aspects of the law, some important development took place since the initial report. First, mention was made in the initial report of a petition to the High Court of Justice, seeking to declare unconstitutional the legal provisions requiring financial guaranty as a pre-condition for issuing a permit to a contract labour agency. In 1998, the High Court of Justice, in its final judgement upheld the constitutionality of this requirement, in a leading precedent (HCJ 450/97 Tnuffah, Manpower Services and Maintenance Ltd. v. Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs). This court decision was described earlier in this report under article 2.

In addition, the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs has used his enforcement powers against many agencies, when complains and inquiries have shown infractions of the law, including the legal obligations of an agency as an employer. Such administrative activities have had one or more of the following results:

Reimbursement by the agency of sums due to its employees;

Limiting the scope of an agency’s activities until fulfilment of certain conditions;

Appointing an accountant to verify compliance by an agency of certain fiscal conditions;

Penal indictment, mainly to enforce the prohibition against operating an agency without a permit;

Cancellation of permit.

Finally, it should be noted that the number of authorized agencies has now reached 300. It is noteworthy that more than 100 agencies, which were operating before the entry in force of the law in 1996, have ceased to operate following its implementation.

The right to work in Israel’s case law

The “restraint of trade” doctrine mentioned in the initial report has been further entrenched in recent judicial cases. Mention should be made of a new leading case known as the “Checkpoint case” (BSHA 27/99 Dan Prumer Checpoint Software Technologies Inc. v. Redgard Inc., NLC, 4.06.99). The National Labour Court considered a contract obligating an employee of a high technology firm to abstain, for 22 months after termination of the contract, from being employed in a competing firm. The employee was a specialist in software development in the field of computer security, who had acquired additional knowledge and expertise while at work during the period of the contract. The District Labour Court had issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the employee to begin employment by Checkpoint, a rival firm. The majority ruling at the National Labour Court annulled the injunction.

The importance of this case lies less in the principles applied than in their application in such a case. The court exercised a balance of rights and interest similar to the approach described in the initial report. However, commentators have criticized the decision as being improper by granting such protection to a specialized employee in the high technology industry, where many employees are, in fact, in such a strong position regarding the employer that they do not need special protection. Some even argued that this precedent would eliminate, in fact, the employer’s protection of its trade secrets and even endanger the viability of the whole high technology industry. It should be noted that the Court addressed this practical concern in its decision. It also stressed the notion that an expertise, even if gained on the job, is part of the personal qualifications of an employee. As such, it is part of his property, which should be protected under the basic right to property, entrenched in the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty. Overall, this approach in effect promotes the right to work of a worker.

Technical and vocational training programmes: Vocational guidance

No change has occurred since Israel’s initial report.

Vocational and technical education within the formal education system sponsored by the Ministry of Education

The number of students receiving vocational training in secondary schools has continued to increase rapidly in absolute and relative terms. In the school year 1999/2000, 115,000 students (in the Hebrew and Arab systems) were in vocational/technological educational tracks, an increase of 17 per cent over 1998/99. In 1999/2000, the total number of pupils in secondary education rose by only 2 per cent.

No updated information is available on the number of institutions providing advanced vocational training. However, regarding the number of students, in 1998‑1999, 53,000 students were studying in these schools, close to half in programmes for practical engineers and technicians, 20 per cent in teacher training, 15 per cent in clerical work and business administration and the rest in nursing, paramedical occupations, arts, architecture and design.

Vocational training for adults and youth sponsored by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs

The following tables show the scope of vocational training sponsored by the ministry in the year 1999, while further details are provided afterwards:

Table 2

Youth Training, 1999

Frameworks	1999
Total No. of students	14 280
Apprenticeship	7 280
Industrial schools	6 400
Adolescents	600

Table 3

The National Institute for Technological Training, 1999

Frameworks	1999
Total No. of students	22 500
Practical engineers and technicians	22 500

Table 4

Adult Vocational Training, 1999

Total No. of students	59 307
Retraining of academics	9 000
Adult basic training	29 095
On-the-job training	1 212
Supplementary courses	1 000
Private sector courses supervised by the Bureau	20 000 approx.

Vocational courses for adults

The Manpower Training and Development Bureau at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (hereinafter, the Bureau) initiates and carries out training and retraining day and evening courses for adults in its own training centres, in training centres run by other agencies and in training centres jointly maintained by the Bureau and private bodies.

In-service vocational training: About 50 per cent of these training courses are implemented by institutes for integrated in-service training of “ORT” and “AMAL” (two large private educational networks), the remainder being implemented by either direct or joint activities.

Retraining for university graduates: In order to provide constructive answers to the demand for trained personnel above secondary school level, and at the same time to solve the problem of unemployment of graduates (Israelis and new immigrants), the Bureau runs two centres for the retraining of graduates in Tel Aviv and Haifa. This is in addition to specific courses held throughout the country.

Training of labour force for states of emergency: The Bureau carries out special activities for the training and staffing of essential posts for a state of emergency. Within this framework, the Bureau operates a special centre for the training of drivers which supplies in‑service training for drivers in driving, hauling, wreck-extraction, etc.

Vocational training for youth

Some of these courses are designed for marginal youth, (see Table 2 above) and in these cases the group of trainees is always under the guidance of a social worker. About 10 per cent of these courses are offered in boarding schools, which provide an attractive setting for the vocational training and education of the adolescent.

According to the Apprenticeship Law, 1953 a youngster may be employed as an apprentice in trades which the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs had declared as apprenticeship trades. In conformity with this law, the youngster learns the trade through work and must study in approved vocational classes. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs supervises the progress in his or her vocational studies in the workshop and in school, through apprenticeship inspectors and by periodic examinations. Graduates receive official trade certificates.

In conformity with an amendment to the law promulgated in 1972, all working youngsters (including in professions not yet promulgated as apprenticeship trades) must study at least one day a week, like apprentices. For organizational and budgetary reasons, this law is being implemented by stages. It began to be applied in the school year 1972/73 and it was assumed that all working youth would become pupils under the law by the school-year 1990/91. It seems now that due to budgetary limitations, the complete implementation of the law for all working youngsters will be postponed to a later date.

The apprenticeship studies are provided in apprenticeship schools, which are run by vocational networks such as ORT, AMAL, Women’s Council and others. Youngsters in this category are, by law, exempt from school fees.

Training of technicians and practical engineers

The training of technicians and practical engineers (see Table 3 above) is the function of the National Institute for Technological Training, which carries out this activity in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Culture. The programme is carried out with the assistance of 41 schools and branches. The Institute also constitutes the official framework for the provision of pedagogical services to schools (study programmes, supervision, examinations and issuing of diplomas to successful graduates).

Integrated programmes of the Bureau and the high-tech industry

The growth of the Israeli high–tech industry has already made it a major part of the GNP. Due to this process, the need for trained manpower in many fields within this industry is growing as well. A group of leading industries in Israel joined together in order to strengthen the link between the needs of their enterprises and the bureau’s training network (i.e. the Israeli National Institute for Technological Training). Their main objectives are to emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary understanding, as a part of the curricula for technicians and practical engineers and to develop an interdisciplinary curriculum, based on the actual situation of the whole industry.

Today 10 colleges for technicians and practical engineers are involved in this programme in the areas of electricity; electronics; machinery; controlling systems; air condition; chemistry and biotechnology. It is important to mention that this programme is followed with a “training of trainers” refreshment course. The project also opened a hot‑line for teachers. A Web site is also under construction, which will serve teachers and students interested in the areas involved. Finally, the whole programme is under systematic assessment and evaluation.

Training for women

With regard to female participation in the labour force, there are two groups – ultra‑orthodox Jewish women and Arab women – who require special programmes and measures, due to the cultural factors affecting their potential entry into the labour market. The development of tools to assist their integration into the labour market is being undertaken currently within the framework and limitations noted above.

In the field of vocational training, the intention is to continue the policy of devoting special budgets to training for women. As described in the following paragraphs, some special programmes are targeted to women in general, while others target especially vulnerable groups of women.

The Ministry’s unit for the Advancement of Women has as its main goal to increase employability of women and their economic independence, through policies of professional and personal growth. The unit’s initiatives are as follows.

(a)Workshops for women, including new immigrants, non-Jewish and ultra-orthodox women:

Type I: Self-empowerment and work skills - in addition to retraining courses.

Type II: Entrepreneurship and work skills - in addition to retraining courses.

Type III: Orientation towards employability and job searching - within the community. (1996 - 20 workshops; 1997 - 55 workshops; 1998 - 70 workshops; 1999 - 80 workshops; 2000 – 120 workshops (1,800 participants); total: 345 workshops; (3,500 participants)). Participants report improved self‑image, personal and professional empowerment and better assessment of the job market. Participants in the entrepreneurship workshops report a better understanding and knowledge of the various aspects of small business establishment. Participants in the workshops in the community usually enjoy continued professional assistance. These women join various activities at the end of the workshops, such as: education completion, Hebrew classes (mainly non-Jewish and new immigrants), vocational training, employment or some form of voluntary activity.

(b)Courses for entrepreneurship and small business (130 hours): These are courses for women with entrepreneurial spirit and/or plans, but without access to training because of economic, geographical or cultural obstacles. This training enhances their chances of establishing a viable business and improving their economic status - the rate of business establishment among the participants is 20 per cent-50 per cent. Some start their business ventures at a later stage. Others, realising the implications, prefer to look for a regular job. Businesses started by participants are mainly in services, such as: catering, child nurseries, alternative medicine, bed and breakfast, beauty, flowers and gift shops, secretarial services and manpower services. Some join their husbands as full partners in establishing or running a family business (1996 - 2 courses for Bedouin women; 1997 - 2 courses: 1 for Arab women, 1 for Jewish women; 1998 - 1 course for ultra -orthodox women; 1999 - 2 courses: 1 for ultra‑orthodox women, 1 for Druze women; total: 130 participants).

(c)Workshops and counselling for professionals working with women within the community: The aim is provision of knowledge and tools, thus empowering women and counselling them towards advancement and employment. Participants include training counsellors in renewal projects of inner city neighbourhoods (started in 1997); senior staff of vocational training centres (started in 1998); and social workers - 2 workshops in 1998 (on-going counselling, while operating community joint workshops for women).

(d)New target populations: In 2000, the unit enlarged the scope of its workshops activities, to include additional groups: those at a stage of career decision making, such as education completion students, preparatory course students; and groups with special needs, such as persons with disabilities during vocational training in rehabilitation centres and unemployed single parents.

(e)A pilot programme - “Learn a profession and be successful”. The Bureau, in collaboration with Women’s Rights NGOs, initiated a new pilot programme aimed at reducing poverty among women. This includes workshops on empowerment and work skills, completion of education and in giving participants in the pilot priority in acceptance to regular vocational training and entrepreneurship courses. Several locations in Jewish and Arab municipalities were chosen in which unemployment exceeds 10 per cent.

Employment opportunities among particular categories of workers: prohibition of discrimination

The Equal Employment Opportunities Law, 1988: In the past years, the Enforcement Division of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs increased its activities under this law: it conducted 167 investigations in 1996; 99 in 1997; 264 in 1998; 290 in 1999 and 597 during 2000 (until August).

The Legal Department pressed charges during year 2000 (until August), in six cases, and had at that time 51 more indictments in preparation. Many cases involve unlawful advertisement. A few cases involve alleged substantial discrimination. There is still no substantial body of jurisprudence on this type of case. There are a few instances of relatively heavy fines imposed, i.e. a fine of NIS 10,000 for unlawful advertisement.

The Equal Employment Opportunities Regulations, 1999 established the legal framework for the appointment of a public council, holding advisory powers with regard to the implementation of the Equal Opportunities Law, 1988.

The Equal Employment Opportunities Law, 1988 was amended in 1998 by the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Law, 1998, in a manner that broadened section 7 regarding “sexual harassment” as well as “adverse treatment” that follows sexual harassment. There are still no leading judgements to report on this issue, but there are a few cases in which settlements were reached in light of the amended law, so that its influence is already substantially felt in the field. Further information on this new legislation is provided in this report under article 3.

It should be noted that other recent amendments in employment legislation also aim at indirectly improving the situation of women. This applies to the fields of foreign workers and manpower contractors, since the rate of women in these groups is relatively high.

Factual situation: employment

Data for 1999 on employed persons by sex and population group are shown below:

Table 5

	Thousands	Percentage
All employed persons	2 136.7	100.0
Men	1 176.2	55.0
Women	960.5	45.0
Jews	1 857.1	86.9
Arabs and others	279.7	13.1

Source: Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force Survey, 1999.

Occupation and continent of birth

The table below presents data for 1999 on Jewish employed persons by occupation, by continent of birth and by sex. In 1999, almost 30 per cent of employed Israeli Jews worked in academic, professional and technical occupations, 36 per cent were clerical and sales personnel, while 18 per cent were skilled workers in manufacturing, construction and other industries. In comparison with the occupational distribution in 1995, a distinct shift had occurred by 1999: the proportion of Israeli Jews employed as skilled industrial workers declined while the proportion working in academic, professional, technical, managerial and other white‑collar occupations rose.

With respect to the continent of birth, in 1999, close to 60 per cent of the Jewish employed population was Israeli-born, 29 per cent came from European countries and the American continent and 12.5 per cent were born in Asian and African countries. In comparison with the situation in 1995, in 1999, more of the Jewish population was born in Israel, coupled with a considerable drop, both absolute and relative, in Israeli Jews born in Asian and African countries. Due primarily to the continued immigration to Israel from the former Soviet Union, the proportion born in European and American countries remained at the same level in 1999 as in 1995 (29 per cent).

In 1999, a third of those Jews born in Europe and the Americas worked as academics and professional personnel, compared with 30 per cent of the Israel-born and 18 per cent of those born in Asia and Africa. The decline which occurred between 1995 and 1999 in the number and proportion employed as skilled industrial workers was particularly sharp among the Israel-born though noticeable, as well, among workers born in Europe and the Americas and in Asia and Africa.

Table 6

Jewish workers, by occupation, continent of birth and sex, 1999

(in thousands)

Occupation and sex	Total	Israel-born	Asia/Africa	Europe/ America
Grand total a	1 857.1	1 083.0	233.2	534.6
Academic professionals	247.0	141.8	13.9	90.7
Other professionals and technicians	287.9	179.6	28.1	80.1
Managers	130.0	88.7	14.2	26.7
Clerical workers	341.7	237.0	35.3	68.3
Agents, sales and service workers	349.1	200.2	57.1	90.1
Skilled agricultural workers	33.4	22.7	4.6	5.3
Skilled industrial workers	330.6	162.2	52.2	113.5
Unskilled workers	137.4	50.8	26.7	59.9
Men - Total	964.6	553.4	133.5	274.0
Academic professionals	128.3	68.6	9.2	49.6
Other professionals and technicians	112.8	65.9	11.9	34.3
Managers	97.4	65.9	12.0	19.4
Clerical workers	85.8	54.2	13.5	17.8
Agents, sales and service workers	151.4	97.9	23.2	29.6
Skilled agricultural workers	28.0	19.9	3.9	4.1
Skilled industrial workers	288.4	150.0	47.4	90.7
Unskilled workers	72.3	31.0	12.4	28.5
Women - Total	892.5	529.7	99.7	260.5
Academic professionals	118.7	72.6	4.8	41.2
Other professionals and technicians	174.9	112.8	16.5	45.7
Managers	33.0	23.3	2.3	7.0
Clerical workers	254.4	181.7	21.7	50.6
Agents, sales and service workers	197.2	102.2	33.9	60.5
Skilled agricultural workers	5.4	3.2	0.8	1.3
Skilled industrial workers	41.9	13.2	5.3	22.9
Unskilled workers	66.9	20.7	14.4	31.3

Source: Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force Survey, 1999.

a Includes persons whose occupations are unknown.

Among the Israeli Arab working population (see Table 8 of the section on this article), in 1999, as in 1995, the large majority are men, 51 per cent of whom were employed as skilled industrial workers. Labour force participation of Arab women remains low, though rising slowly. In 1999, the proportion of employed Israeli Arab women among all Israeli Arab workers increased from 21 per cent in 1995 to 24 per cent in 1999. Of the women who were employed in 1999, 28 per cent work in academic and professional fields, 36 per cent were clerical and sales workers and 34 per cent were employed in industry as skilled and unskilled labour.

Foreign workers

In recent years the phenomenon of foreign workers, described in the initial report, raised great concerns because of its implications in the realms of labour, employment and welfare. Consequently, the Foreign Workers (Prohibition of Unlawful Employment and Assurance of Fair Conditions) Law, 1991 was revised, in an amendment that came into force on 1 July 2000. (An English translation of the amended version of this law is included in annex I to the present Report.)*

The first aspect of the 2000 amendment concerns foreign workers’ labour rights, in particular:

The right to a labour contract in writing in the foreign worker’s language, along with a Hebrew version. It should be noted that a written contract is not required in regular labour law, except for the case of contract labour workers for whom there is no language requirement;

The obligation to provide the worker with medical insurance, at the expense of the employer; and

The obligation to provide “proper lodging”, mostly at the expense of the employer.

In addition, the employer is now obliged to submit monthly reports to the Employment Service’s payments division about payment of wages for every foreign worker he employs. He is also required to keep a copy of the medical insurance, wage slips and a register of each worker’s hours of work and rest at the place of work.

In July 2000, four sets of regulations under the amended law came into force. They include: the specifications of a “proper lodging”; the maximum amounts that an employer may deduct from the worker’s salary by way of reimbursement of the employer expenses on lodging; the documents that the employer is required to keep; details concerning the employer’s reporting obligations.

The amendment also introduced compulsory fees on employers of foreign workers. Administrative fines for violation of the law had earlier been raised in 1998 from NIS 2,000 to NIS 5,000. The new amendment in 2000 raised the amount of fines determined by the law to NIS 80,000. Nine new offences were also added by the 2000 amendment, mainly for violation of foreign workers’ rights. A section was added which provides protection against an employer impairing a foreign worker’s wages and work conditions, on the basis of a complaint by the foreign worker or by someone on his behalf. The range of liability for violations of the law was also broadened to cover contractors active in this field, arranging living conditions, medical insurance, wages etc. The supervision authority of the inspectors enforcing the law was also expanded, to grant them the right to seize documents at the place of work, such as wage slips and registers of work and rest hours.

In addition, the Employment Service Law was amended, to expand the prohibition on private agencies to charge payment from the work seeker. This amendment aims at preventing an agency from evading the law by using an individual acting de facto, but not de jure, on its behalf in Israel or abroad.

The factual situation of foreign workers

Since the 2000 amendment came into force only recently, the information below relates to the legal situation prevailing before it came into effect. Information on the enforcement of the amended law will be available in future reports. According to data supplied by the Employment Services the number of permits issued this year to employ foreign workers amounts to 72,445. Estimates by the Central Bureau of Statistics indicate that around 150,000 workers are presently employed in Israel, of which part are legally employed and part are illegally employed. Thus, it is possible to estimate that the number of illegal foreign workers approximately equals the legal workers. These data seem positive in the light of the declared policy of the Government to reduce the scope of foreign workers employed in Israel.

According to data of the Ministry of Interior the following are the countries from which the foreign workers come:

Europe: Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia and the former Soviet Union;

Asia: Philippines, Thailand, India and China;

Africa: Ghana and Nigeria;

South and Central America: Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile and Brazil.

The Foreign Workers Administration, mentioned in Israel’s initial report, regularly distributes an information leaflet among the workers arriving at Israel’s Ben Gurion international airport. These leaflets, written in a number of languages, list the employer’s legal obligations towards foreign workers. It also provides the telephone number of a hot‑line, to which one can file complaints to the Enforcement Division of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Anonymous complaints are also dealt with. Similar material is also being distributed by various NGOs active in this field.

The Foreign Workers Administration acts for the purpose of enforcing the duties of employers towards their foreign workers in accordance with the labour laws. This activity by the Foreign Workers Administration is on the rise: in 1998, 1,198 employers were fined (5,081 work sites were inspected, involving 10,740 workers). During the period between November 1999, and August 2000, 2,262 employers were fined for illegal employment, for which NIS 11 million was collected in fines. During that period 359 employers did not pay the administrative fine and preferred to go to trial.

Table 7

Employment and unemployment of Israelis: levels and trends, 1996-1999

	1996	1999	Average annual percentage change
1991-1996	1996-1999
Total population
Aged 15 and over (thousands)	4 019.9	4 358.5	3.2	2.7
Civilian labour force:
Number (thousands)	2 156.9	2 345.2	4.0	2.8
Participation rate (%)	53.7	53.8
Employed (thousands)	2 012.8	2 136.7	4.9	2.0
Unemployed
Number (thousands)	144.1	208.5	-4.9	13.1
Unemployment rate (%)	6.7	8.9
Jews
Aged 15 and over (thousands)	3 362.6	3 616.2	3.0	2.5
Civilian labour force:
Number (thousands)	1 880.2	2 029.4	3.9	2.6
Participation rate (%)	55.9	56.1
Employed (thousands)	1 753.3	1 857.0	4.7	1.9
Unemployed
Number (thousands)	127.0	172.4	-5.0	10.7
Unemployment rate (%)	6.7	8.5
Men
Aged 15 and over (thousands)	1 959.7	2 116.3	3.1	2.6
Civilian labour force:
Number (thousands)	1 217.8	1 285.0	3.1	2.6
Participation rate (%)	62.1	60.7
Employed (thousands)	1 147.0	1 176.2	3.8	0.8
Unemployed
Number (thousands)	70.8	108.8	-4.7	15.4
Unemployment rate (%)	5.8	8.5

Table 7 ( continued )
	1996	1999	Average annual percentage change
1991-1996	1996-1999
Women
Aged 15 and over (thousands)	2 060.1	2 242.2	3.3	2.9
Civilian labour force:
Number (thousands)	939.1	1 060.2	5.2	4.1
Participation rate (%)	45.6	47.3
Employed (thousands)	865.8	960.5	6.5	3.2
Unemployed
Number (thousands)	73.3	99.7	-5.6	6.3
Unemployment rate (%)	7.8	9.4
Arabs and others
Aged 15 and over (thousands)	657.3	742.2	4.6	4.1
Civilian labour force:
Number (thousands)	276.6	315.8	5.3	4.5
Participation rate (%)	42.1	42.5
Employed (thousands)	259.5	279.7	6.3	2.5
Unemployed
Number (thousands)	17.2	36.1	-5.1	3.2
Unemployment rate (%)	6.2	11.4
Aged 15-17
Aged 15 and over (thousands)	303.2	324.1	1.0	1.7
Civilian labour force:
Number (thousands)	38.5	29.6	4.0	-8.4
Participation rate (%)	12.7	9.2
Employed (thousands)	30.9	24.1	6.5	-7.9
Unemployed
Number (thousands)	7.6	5.5	0.3	-10.2
Unemployment rate (%)	19.7	18.6
Aged 18-24
Aged 15 and over (thousands)	698.9	739.9	3.8	1.9
Civilian labour force:
Number (thousands)	304.2	325.1	5.0	2.2
Participation rate (%)	43.5	43.9
Employed (thousands)	265.3	271.2	8.8	0.7
Unemployed
Number (thousands)	38.9	53.8	-5.9	11.4
Unemployment rate (%)	12.8	16.6
Aged 25-54
Aged 15 and over (thousands)	553.1	671.5	6.9	6.7
Civilian labour force:
Number (thousands)	422.1	520.8	8.2	7.3
Participation rate (%)	76.3	77.6
Employed (thousands)	402.9	486.3	10.6	6.5
Unemployed
Number (thousands)	19.2	34.5	-0.3	21.6
Unemployment rate (%)	4.5	6.6
Aged 55-64
Aged 15 and over (thousands)	383.3	402.3	2.7	1.6
Civilian labour force:
Number (thousands)	188.7	198.1	2.4	1.6
Participation rate (%)	49.2	49.2
Employed (thousands)	179.6	184.8	4.7	4.1
Unemployed
Number (thousands)	9.1	13.3	-5.6	13.5
Unemployment rate (%)	6.7	4.8
Residing in development areas
Aged 15 and over (thousands)	417.9	452.0	6.5	2.6
Civilian labour force:
Number (thousands)	218.9	240.9	6.5	3.2
Participation rate (%)	52.4	53.3
Employed (thousands)	195.9	212.2	9.9	3.7
Unemployed
Number (thousands)	23.0	28.8	-1.3	7.8
Unemployment rate (%)	10.5	11.9
New immigrants a
Aged 15 and over (thousands)	553.7	719.5	21.3	9.1
Civilian labour force:
Number (thousands)	296.0	397.8	25.2	10.4
Participation rate (%)	53.4	55.3
Employed (thousands)	268.6	352.6	33.8	9.5
Unemployed
Number (thousands)	27.4	45.2	-5.8	18.2
Unemployment rate (%)	9.3	11.4

Source: Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force Surveys.

a Arrivals from 1990 onwards.

Table 8

Employed persons, by occupation, sex and population group, 1999

All workers	in thousands	per cent distribution
Occupation	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
Total	2 136.6	1 176.2	960.5	100.0	100.0	100.0
Academic professions	264.7	141.1	123.6	13.0	12.2	12.5
Other professions and technicians	309.6	121.8	187.8	14.7	10.5	19.7
Managers	133.6	100.7	33.0	6.3	8.7	3.5
Clerical workers	358.4	94.6	263.9	17.0	8.2	27.7
Agents, sales and service workers	387.3	177.9	209.4	18.3	15.3	21.9
Skilled agricultural workers	39.3	33.6	5.7	1.9	2.9	0.6
Manufacturing, construction and other skilled workers	444.7	391.7	53.0	21.0	33.8	5.6
Unskilled workers	175.7	97.8	77.9	8.3	8.4	8.2
Unknown	23.1	16.9	6.2	-	-	-
Jews
Total	1 857.1	964.6	892.5	100.0	100.0	100.0
Academic professions	244.5	126.2	118.3	13.3	13.3	13.3
Other professions and technicians	284.9	110.7	174.2	15.5	11.7	19.7
Managers	128.1	95.8	32.4	7.0	10.1	3.7
Clerical workers	337.5	84.7	252.8	18.4	8.9	28.5
Agents, sales and service workers	345.0	149.2	195.8	18.8	15.7	22.1
Skilled agricultural workers	32.6	27.7	5.0	1.8	2.9	0.6
Manufacturing, construction and other skilled workers	326.0	284.4	41.6	17.8	29.9	4.7
Unskilled workers	137.5	71.1	66.4	7.5	7.5	7.5
Unknown	20.9	14.8	6.1	-	-	-
Arabs and Others
Total	279.5	211.6	68.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Academic professions	20.3	14.9	5.3	7.3	7.1	7.8
Other professions and technicians	24.7	11.1	13.6	8.9	5.3	20.1
Managers	5.5	4.9	0.6	2.0	2.3	0.9
Clerical workers	21.0	9.9	11.1	7.6	4.7	16.4
Agents, sales and service workers	42.3	28.7	13.6	15.2	13.7	20.1
Skilled agricultural workers	6.7	6.0	0.7	2.4	2.9	1.0
Manufacturing, construction and other skilled workers	118.7	107.3	11.3	42.8	51.2	42.8
Unskilled workers	38.3	26.8	11.5	13.8	12.8	17.0
Unknown	2.2	2.1	0.1	-	-	-

Source: Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force Survey, 1999

Article 7: The right to just and favourable conditions of work

1. Related international conventions binding Israel

Since its initial report under the Covenant, Israel submitted updated reports under the following ILO Conventions, which relate to the years 1998-1999:

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100);

Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention (No. 94);

Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention (No. 14);

Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention (No. 106);

Holidays With Pay Convention (No. 52);

Holidays With Pay (Agriculture) Convention (No. 101);

Night Work of Young Persons (Non-Industrial Occupations) Convention (No. 79);

Night Work of Young Persons (Industry) Convention (Revised) (No. 90);

Protection of Wages Convention (No. 95);

Medical Examinations of Young Persons (Non-Industrial Occupations) Convention (No. 78);

Medical Examinations of Young Persons (Industry) Convention (No. 77);

Minimum Age Convention (No. 138).

2. Remuneration

(a)Methods for fixing wages

No changes have occurred since Israel’s initial report.

(b)Minimum wages

The following table shows minimum and average wages in 1996 and 1999 in relation to the cost-of-living index. The minimum wage in 1999 was, on the average, 43.6 per cent of the average wage in the economy.

Table 9

Minimum wage, average wage and cost of living, 1996 and 1999

Period	Minimum wage per month	Average wage per month	Cost of living index	Minimum wage to average wage
(Current NIS)	(1998 = 100.0)	(in per cent)
1996	1 996	4 876	87.0	40.6
1999	2 755	6 323	105.2	43.6
	Average annual per cent change
1991-1996	11.5	12.8	11.3	-
1996-1999	11.3	9.0	6.5	-

Source: Israel Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and Central Bureau of Statistics.

Enforcement of the Minimum Wage Law

As reported, the Minimum Wage Law, 1987 was amended and strengthened in 1997. The law is enforced by the Enforcement Division of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. The Ministry’s inspectors regularly conduct on-site inspections at work places throughout the country. Employers who violate this law are fined or, in rare cases, prosecuted, and are required to pay workers the differences between the actual wages paid and the statutory wages, in accordance with the law.

Enforcement covers all workers: adult Israelis, teenage workers, Palestinian workers, foreign workers and workers hired by manpower contractors. The following are data concerning enforcement of the Minimum Wage Law, which were not included in Israel’s initial report.

Table 10

Minimum Wage Law enforcement report (1996)

With findings (investigation leading to legal action being taken (administrative fines and/or indictment))
Date	Male workers	Female workers	Total	Total number of employers (cases)
Foreigner	Jew	Arab	Jewish youth	Arab youth	Foreigner	Jew	Arab	Jewish youth	Arab youth
1996	1 096	916	781	63	37	66	1 654	890	39	127	5 669	284
Summer raids				32					37	1	70	27
Total	1 096	916	781	95	37	66	1 654	890	76	128	5 739	311
Without findings
1996	3 096	13 775	2 713	311	103	420	18 874	2 077	405	151	41 925	331
Summer raids		32		371	1		25		350	18	797	30
Total	3 096	13 807	2 713	682	104	420	18 899	2 077	755	169	42 722	361

Table 10 ( continued )

Minimum wage violation compensations
Sector	Number of female workers	Total in NIS	Number of male workers	Total in NIS
Jewish	789	159 337	520	114 158
Arab	1 005	170 321	318	87 188
Jewish youth	36	3 951	58	6 981
Arab youth	85	23 586	61	7 354
Foreigners			371	881 710
Total	1 915	357 196	1 328	1 100 224
Cumulative total	3 243 workers received 1 457 421 NIS

Source: The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

Table 11

Minimum Wage Law enforcement report (1997)

With findings
Date	Male workers	Female workers	Total	Total number of employers (cases)
Foreigner	Jew	Arab	Jewish youth	Arab youth	Foreigner	Jew	Arab	Jewish youth	Arab youth
1997	1 609	631	45	32	9	160	698	178	27	8	3 397	358
Without findings
1997	856	9 430	2 389	614	131	143	6 966	1 159	386	84	2 208	346
Minimum Wage violation compensations
Sector	No. of female workers	Total in NIS	No. of male workers	Total in NIS
Jewish	589	124 190	604	93 625
Arab	136	33 877.63	63	17 016
Jewish youth	34	9 928	23	5 779
Arab youth	3	946	1	218
Foreigners	-	-	1 195	3 063 471
Total	762	168 943	1 886	3 180 110
Cumulative total	2 648 workers received 3 349 053 NIS

Source: The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

The latest years show an increasing enforcement activity:

Table 12

Inspections, violations and compensation 1998-1999

	1998	1999
Work places inspected	2 560	6 500
Number of workers at inspected sites	17 780	36 000
Men	11 316	27 000
Women	6 464	9 000
Number of violations of the law	3 884	1 981
Men	3 159	1 720
Women	725	261
Compensation (back pay) by employers	NIS 6.2 million	NIS 4.7 million
Men	NIS 5.7 million	NIS 4.5 million
Women	NIS 0.5 million	NIS 0.2 million

Source: The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

In 2000, the policy concerning the enforcement of the minimum wage (described in Israel’s initial report) was revised. From now on, an expanded effort will be made to take legal action against employers violating the Law, seeking compensation from the employer for the workers - especially in serious cases. However, the success of this policy depends on adequate means being allocated to the ministry in the 2001 budget.

According to a recent study conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the percentage of workers who do not receive the legal minimum wage (per hour) is about 5.5 per cent of the whole working population. Data based on the number of workers who are in fact entitled to minimum wage is problematic and cannot be relied upon.

(c)Equal pay for work of equal value

Women’s wages, though still lower than men’s, have continued to improve. In 1998, women’s average hourly wages were 83 per cent of men’s. By occupation, their hourly wages are still highest, relative to men, in the category “other professional and technicians” (89 per cent). Women earn the least, relative to men, among skilled industrial and construction workers, but this ratio has improved from 57 per cent in 1995 to 63 per cent in 1998. In both 1997 and 1998, women worked on the average 25 per cent fewer hours per week than men.

Table 13

Urban wage and salary workers: women’s hourly wages as a per cent of men’s hourly wages, 1995 and 1998
Occupation	Percentage
1995	1998
Total	80.7	82.9
Academic professionals	79.4	85.7
Other professional and technicians	89.5	89.1
Managers	75.3	75.4
Clerical workers	75.8	70.3
Sales and services workers	64.2	71.0
Skilled workers in industry and construction	56.9	63.0
Unskilled workers	78.3	77.9

Source: Israel, Central Bureau of Statistics, Income Surveys, 1995, 1998.

In 1999, the Be’er Sheva District Labour Court, in one of the only court procedures ever held on the application of the Male and Female Workers Equal Pay Law, 1996, decided that an employer must release to the claimant details regarding the salaries of male employees in the workplace. Preferring to address the principle of equality and the claimant’s right to pursue her employer and choosing to ignore potential damage to the secret nature of other workers’ salaries, the Court granted the requested relief to the claimant (Simi Nidam v. Rali Electrics and Electronics).

It should be noted that during the period of this report, the labour court did not order job evaluations to be conducted under the Male and Female Workers Equal Pay Law, 1996.

In a National Labour Court discussion concerning the validity of the proposed voluntary retirement plan, which the General Health Insurance Fund (Kupat Holim Klalit) offered its veteran employees - a proposal which offered more advantageous terms to men than that offered to women and which also had consequences on the future pension plans of each gender - the Court decided that according to the Law on the Equal Age of Retirement for Men and Women Employees, 1987, which stipulates that a woman may retire from her job at any age between a woman’s retirement age and that of a man’s, the proposed terms of voluntary retirement were discriminatory. However, the majority opinion was that the claimants’ acceptance of the terms of their retirement should in effect be seen as a renunciation of their right to choose the age of their retirement (as stipulated in the Law on the Equal Age of Retirement for Men and Women), thus denying their entitlement to the financial compensation requested in court. Only the minority opinion of the Court expressed the view that the discrimination between male and female workers present in the early retirement agreement was an essential element of that agreement and no acquiescence on the part of the female workers could rectify such discrimination (Eytana Niv and others v. Kupat Holim Klalit; A petition to the High Court of Justice is still pending).

As to women’s wages within the civil service, the positive trend described in Israel’s initial report has continued. The wages of women in 1999 were 20 per cent below those of men in the civil service compared to 24 per cent in 1996 (source: data presented by the Treasury to the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women, Report to the 15th Knesset, August 2000). For further information on this topic, refer to Israel’s second report to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, submitted this year.

(d)Income distribution of employees

Below are the data for 1998 on income distribution in Israel.

Table 14

Urban employees, by gross income per hour from wages and salaries and by sex, 1998

	Total	Men	Women
All employees (number in thousands)	1 720.2	929.3	790.9
Gross hourly wage groups (NIS):	Per cent distribution:
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0
Up to 11.99	7.0	5.7	8.6
12.00-14.99	8.0	6.9	9.4
15.00-17.49	11.6	10.7	12.6
17.50-19.99	9.0	9.2	8.7
20.00-22.49	6.3	6.4	6.2
22.50-24.99	6.8	6.7	6.9
25.00-29.99	10.1	10.6	9.6
30.00-34.99	11.0	11.1	10.8
35.00-44.99	9.9	9.4	10.5
45.00-64.99	9.9	10.7	9.1
65.00+	10.4	12.7	7.6
Average hourly wage (NIS)	34.5	36.9	30.6

Source: Israel, Central Bureau of Statistics, Income Surveys, 1998.

Presented below is an updated table with data for 1998 showing the distribution of income for urban households headed by wage and salary workers.

Table 15
Urban households headed by wage and salary workers, by deciles of gross monthly money income and by characteristics of household head, 1988 deciles of income
	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Upper limit of decile (NIS)	-	3 614.5	4 893.5	6 104.0	7 352.0	8 824.5	10 504.5	12 634.0	15 838.0	21 568.5	-
Gross money income per
household (NIS)	11 228.3	2 655.2	4 290.7	5 513.0	6 732.3	8 038.6	9 634.6	11 556.6	14 094.4	18 319.0	1 425.7
Average age of household head	39.7	35.1	36.9	37.9	38.6	39.0	39.4	40.4	40.9	43.0	45.3
Average persons per household	3.8	2.5	3.4	3.7	4.0	4.0	4.1	4.1	4.2	4.2	4.1
All heads of household	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Years of schooling:
Up to 8	8.0	13.9	15.8	12.9	11.8	7.3	6.6	5.0	4.3	2.1	0.6
9 to 12	43.5	44.4	50.3	53.7	50.6	51.2	50.4	46.1	36.7	31.6	19.8
13+	48.5	41.8	33.9	33.4	37.6	41.5	43.1	48.9	59.0	66.3	79.6
Age:
Up to 34	38.0	58.2	48.9	44.9	42.6	40.1	37.0	37.1	32.4	23.2	15.2
35-54	50.8	31.7	42.1	43.9	46.2	49.2	55.2	50.7	56.4	64.8	67.9
55-64	9.2	7.0	7.3	8.9	8.7	8.6	6.7	10.2	9.0	10.9	14.3
65+	2.1	3.1	1.7	2.3	2.6	2.0	1.2	1.9	2.1	1.2	2.7
Jews - Total	86.5	79.2	74.2	79.0	80.4	85.2	88.4	91.9	93.2	95.4	98.3
Continent of birth:
Asia-Africa	13.2	9.2	11.6	13.2	14.3	10.1	14.4	16.5	17.8	14.7	9.8
Europe-America	28.4	34.0	29.2	29.6	27.8	28.8	27.0	24.7	26.9	27.4	28.8
Israel	44.7	35.8	33.1	36.1	38.0	45.7	47.0	50.6	48.4	53.0	59.6
Non-Jews - Total	13.5	20.8	25.8	21.0	19.6	14.8	11.6	8.1	6.8	4.6	1.7

Source: Israel, Central Bureau of Statistics, Income Surveys, 1998.

3. Occupational Health and Safety

Since Israel’s initial report, a number of regulations have been amended, at the initiative of the Labour Inspection Service of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, to meet with changes in technology.

Following is an update on the Service’s enforcement activities. There are now 70 labour inspectors and 10 assistants. In 2000, the Service conducted 61,736 inspections of workplaces, 12,800 of which were at building sites. The Industrial Hygiene Laboratory performed 3,405 environmental tests. The inspectors carried out 455 investigations of work accidents and occupational diseases. In Israel’s initial report it was noted that 957 investigations were conducted. But this number included not only systematic investigations, but also various consultations. Since that time, the Service changed its enforcement policy. The practice of consultations has practically been abolished, enabling an increase in the number of investigations. Thus, the number of investigations reported in this present Report do not represent less activity than in 1996.

Furthermore, the results of the enforcement activities have improved as can be seen from the following updated data on work injuries, fatalities and injury compensation. There has been a clear reduction in the number of work injuries and in fatalities, even though the number of

workers has increased.

Table 16

Work injuries 1995-1999

Year	Number of injuries	Number of workers	Incidence (%)
1995	84 344	2 093 000	4.2
1996	92 274	2 133 700	4.3
1997	84 069	2 152 900	3.9
1998	82 511	2 192 600	3.8
1999	73 690	2 227 300	3.3

Source: The Labour Inspection Service, The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

Table 17

Fatalities from work accidents 1999-2000

Sector	1999	%	2000	%
Industry	8	12	10	15
Building	34	52	29	48
Agriculture	2	3	4	7
Quarries	1	2	0	-
Ports	4	6	0	-
Trains	2	3	1	2
Other	15	22	17	28
Total	66	100	61	100

Source: The Labour Inspection Service, The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

Table 18

Injury compensation in 1996 according to branches of work

Total	73 684 workers
Self employed	7 820
Employed (salaries)	65 864

Source: Including Palestinian workers and foreign workers.

Table 19

Injury compensation in 1999 according to sex and age

	Total	0-17	18-24	25-34	35-44	45-54	55-60	61-64	65+
Total	73 684
%	100	0.4	12.9	26.8	24.5	22.7	7.3	3.3	2.1
Males	56 312
%	100	0.5	13.5	28.7	24.6	20.8	6.4	3.4	2.2
Females	17 372
%	100	0.2	10.7	20.8	24.1	29.0	10.1	3.2	1.9

4. Equal opportunity for promotion

No changes have occurred since Israel’s initial report.

5. Rest and leisure

The following data concerns the enforcement by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Hours of Work and Rest Law, 1951 since the initial report: in 1996 - 119 employers were brought before courts; in 1997 - 210 and in 1998 - 84. In 1999 the sanction for breaching this law became an administrative fine, and thus far only one case was brought to court.

Article 8: Collective labour rights

1. Related international conventions binding Israel

Since its initial report, the State of Israel has submitted the following reports to international bodies:

Israel’s initial report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, was filed in February 1998 (CCPR/C/81/Add.13);

Israel’s last report to the International Labour Organization pursuant to the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention, 1948 (No. 87), was recently filed and relates to the years 1998-2000.

2. Forming trade unions and joining them

Since the initial report, the legal protection for the right to organize in trade unions was expanded, by several important judicial decisions.

In the case of Mifealey Tahanot v. Israel Yaniv (46/3-209 National Labour Court, November, 1996), the Court cancelled the dismissal of two workers after finding that the real ground for dismissal was their initiative to organize a workers committee. The company had no previous workers organization. The two employees had clear intentions to initiate collective bargaining with the employer. This landmark case was important in two respects. First, it laid down two alternative legal grounds for the recognition of the right to organize as a basic right: (a) the right derives from the concept of human dignity entrenched in Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty; (b) the right derives from the general right to equality, namely the prohibition to discriminate against workers on irrelevant grounds, like involvement in organizational activities. This issue was developed in the Delek case discussed below.

Secondly, regarding the question of which remedy is available in case of a breach of this right, the court recognized its competence to issue a reinstatement order. This was seen as an important initiative. As mentioned in the initial report, reinstatement at work is generally limited in Israeli case law to dismissals in contradiction to a collective agreement, a specific legal provision and within the public service where norms of administrative law apply in addition to private contract law. This remedy had previously been ruled out in private labour contract relations, by the High Court of Justice, in light of a provision in a contract law according to which a court should not order the enforcement of a personal contract. The novelty of the Mifealey Tahanot case lies in considering a breach of a basic right as a legal ground for permitting the enforcement of a private labour contract.

This ruling was recently clearly reinforced in the Horn & Leibivitz Transport Co. v. The Histadrut case (99/323 National Labour Court, July 2000). This company had dismissed a group of drivers who tried to organize themselves into a union, just after the Histadrut had expressed its willingness to recognize it under its federation. The Regional Labour Court issued a temporary reinstatement order, until completion of proceedings. The company appealed to the National Labour Court, which upheld the decision of the Regional Labour Court. The Court’s rulings at both instances were based on prior decisions, which had recognized the right to organize in labour unions as a basic human right. Here again, the remedy of reinstatement was declared the most effective one in order to protect this right, since an employer might not be deterred by the threat of compensation alone, while deciding how to respond to his employees’ organizational activities.

Interestingly, the company then reacted by firing about a hundred more drivers, arguing that it had to close the whole department. The Histadrut then threatened the company that it intended to appeal to the Court in a contempt of court proceeding. The conflict ended by the signing of a collective agreement with the company.

In the case of Delek The Israeli Petrol Company v. The Histadrut (98/4-10 National Labour Court), the National Labour Court extended the concept of the legal basis for the

recognition of the right to organize, already introduced in the Mifealey Tahanot case mentioned above. The court ruled in favour of the protection of such workers’ right to organize. It stated that:

… the right to organize protects the worker’s dignity at the place of work, where he usually spends a third of his day. The individual worker has less power than the employer, and in most cases he is unable to conduct fair negotiations. Joining a workers’ union bolsters the worker’s strength and provides a balance in his negotiations with the employer … in many cases the individual worker’s dignity will only be secured by joining a group of workers, i.e. a workers union.

The court also rationalized the right to organize as “a two-dimensional right, realized in the actions of both the group and the individual”.

Finally, the court further developed the interpretation of the legal right to organize on the basis of the non-discrimination principle. The question arose in this case in light of the fact, that the Delek company decided to dismiss employees, in the context of legitimate economic dismissal in accordance with the collective agreement in force. However, the employees which it decided to dismiss were mostly members of the representative labour organization at the place of work. Only a few employees were dismissed who were not members of the representative labour organization. The court ruled that consideration by the employer of union membership, when deciding upon economic dismissals, amounted to unjustified discrimination between workers.

The right to organize a trade union

Since Israel’s initial report, the right to organize a trade union was further qualified in the landmark decision of Tadiran Kesher Inc. et al. v. The Histadrut (97/41-96 National Labour Court, February 1998). During the term of a collective labour agreement, the Tadiran company underwent a structural change, dividing itself into three companies. The question that arose was which new company should be the bargaining unit under the agreement. The workers wanted it to be a single one; Tadiran wanted to conduct three distinct bargaining units. A strike broke out on this issue, and the employer filed a motion for a temporary injunction ordering the workers back to work.

The National Labour Court denied the motion. Judge Gerald Adler, President of the National Labour Court sought a proper balance between the basic right of employees to organize and to choose their representative organization, and the employer’s basic right to property entrenched in Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty. The employer’s prerogative to manage his business was here countered by the workers’ basic rights. The Court held:

When balancing between the workers’ right to organize and the employer’s right to manage his business, a special weight should be given to the workers’ right, because their fate is embedded in the rights that are to be entrenched in the collective agreements applying to them. The employer’s right to be part of a change in the bargaining unit is a relative one and is subordinate to the condition that it is not intended to impair organizational rights of workers … The employer and the labour union have therefore to agree on the structure of bargaining appropriate for them. In a democratic society there is great importance in granting dignity and liberty to each worker. An expression of this is the worker’s power to participate in the determination of the bargaining unit in which he belongs. This includes the power to influence changes in the bargaining unit, by way of negotiations between the labour organization which represents the workers and the employer who provides them with work.

The court decided that until an agreement was reached on the determination of the bargaining unit, the regular rules regarding industrial conflicts would apply, and the workers’ right to strike was upheld.

Number and structure of trade unions in Israel

No notable change in the structure of labour movements in Israel has occurred since the submission of Israel’s initial report. The Histadrut still remains the largest and most representative workers’ organization in Israel and still refrains from disclosing exact numbers on its membership.

Individual freedom to join a trade union

No notable change has occurred on this issue since the submission of Israel’s Initial Report, except for the Tadiran case discussed above, which reiterated the individual freedom of a worker to choose his union.

Freedom of operation of trade unions

Since the submission of Israel’s initial report, the labour courts provided further qualifications of the already recognized freedom of operation of trade unions. In the case of Haifa Chemicals Inc. v. David Raviv and The Histadrut (57/4-10 Haifa Regional Labour Court, 5 January 1997 and 57/4‑43 National Labour Court, 19 January 1997), a motion for an injunction was filed by the employer against actions taken by the workers’ organization at the place of work during a strike. The strike broke out after the employer had announced its intention not to renew any collective agreement at the plant. Workers’ actions during the strike included blocking the plant’s gates and preventing movements of trucks and employees, as well as acts of sabotage within the plant. The employer demanded protection of his property rights through a motion for an injunction. The Regional Labour Court issued a detailed order, which still left room for organizational activities, in particular allowing the presence of 50 workers within the plant and the holding of demonstrations (but not blockage) within the plant near its gates only. The order was construed in order to enable all maintenance activity within the plant, as well as freedom of movement and action to the management members. The ruling was framed in the context of balancing conflicting rights. The court was ready to recognize that the right to strike and the freedom of expression and the freedom of protest of workers could justify to some degree the disregard of the employer’s basic property rights, but not to negate them totally.

This decision was appealed and the National Labour Court overruled it partly. The details of the order were changed, leaving more room for the employer to operate during the strike. For instance, the court permitted demonstrations near the gates, but only outside the plant and it allowed workers’ presence within the plant, but only of members of the worker’s organization. Moreover, the National Labour Court also saw the case as one involving a balance of conflicting rights. It, too, was ready not to decide the case strictly on the basis of an analysis of the employer’s property rights, which were undoubtedly impaired by the worker’s acts.

3. The right to strike

(a)The status and content of the right to strike

Since the submission of Israel’s initial report a significant decision was given in the case of Mekorot Inc. v. The Histadrut (99/19 National Labour Court, August 1999). Mekorot Inc. is a governmental corporation, responsible for the supply of water to most Israelis. The right of its workers to strike was contested in this case by the public employer on the ground that such strike would impair its ability to provide vital services. The court granted only a limited injunction against the strikers. It held that the right to strike is a relative one, which must be balanced against conflicting rights. Therefore, the injunction was construed in a way that left room for a strike but not at the price of leaving the public with no water. The Court permitted the workers to work only during the limited time normally worked during the Saturday day of rest and holidays. It also urged the parties to return to negotiations and instructed them to report to the court within four days.

Restrictions placed on the right to strike

Since the submission of Israel’s initial report an important court decision was given, which qualified the implication of a strike which is classified as “unprotected”. As explained in the Initial Report, an unprotected strike will usually result in a court injunction ordering the workers to return to work. Nevertheless, this was not so in the case of The Tel Aviv-Jaffa Workers’ Organization v. The Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality (97/41-92 National Labour Court, February 1998). Even though the strike in this case was conducted without respecting the normally required “cooling-off” period, the court protected it. In the midst of collective negotiations, the municipality had tried to by-pass the workers’ union, by hiring a private contractor to provide services normally provided by the municipality’s employees. The court considered this kind of privatization as a unilateral act by the employer, especially threatening both the individual workers and the workers’ organization at the place of work. The court therefore used its discretion to not grant the injunction which had been requested by the employer. It should be mentioned that one of the judges in the panel issued a dissenting opinion, not refuting the court’s power to use discretion, but arguing that the circumstances in the present case did not justify such an exceptional step.

(b)Statistics on strikes in Israel

The figures presented in the initial report can now be updated as follows:

Table 20: Strikes in Israel

Year	Number of “works to rule”	Number of strikes and lock‑outs (excluding works to rule)	Number of persons involved in strikes and lock outs	Work days lost
1960		135	14 420	49 368
1965		288	90 210	207 561
1970		163	114 941	390 260
1971		169	88 265	178 621
1972		168	87 309	236 058
1973	54	96	122 348	375 023
1974	49	71	27 141	51 333
1975	62	117	114 091	164 509
1976	76	123	114 970	308 214
1977	57	126	194 297	416 256
1978	55	85	224 354	1 071 961
1979	97	117	250 420	539 162
1980	54	84	91 451	216 516
1981	59	90	315 346	782 305
1982	79	112	838 700	1 814 945
1983	47	93	188 305	977 698
1984	74	149	528 638	995 494
1985	64	131	473 956	540 232
1986	92	142	215 227	406 292
1987	89	174	814 501	995 546
1988	93	156	327 193	516 071
1989	58	120	209 841	234 073
1990	75	117	571 172	1 071 279
1991	52	77	38 776	97 923
1992	64	114	211 833	386 658
1993	40	73	462 208	1 636 866
1994	38	75	106 047	792 533
1995	51	71	75 792	257 796
1996	28	75	124 215	190 146
1997*
1998	10	53	275 478	1 227 722
1999	33	67	293 057	1 564 827

* Data for 1997 is still not available due to a change in the method and in the body responsible for gathering the data.

4. The armed forces, the police and the administration of the State

No notable change occurred on this issue since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Article 9: The right to social security

1. Related international conventions binding Israel

Since its initial report, Israel has filed a new report on the International Labour Organization Equality of Treatment (Social Security) Convention (No. 118), which covers the years 1992 to 1995.

2. Social security branches in Israel

(a)Maternity benefits

As of May 1998, the husband of a woman who has given birth and is entitled to maternity leave, may partially replace her in her maternity leave and, for the period of his leave, receive maternity allowance instead of her.

(b)Old-age benefits

Mention was made in Israel’s initial report of an amendment to the law concerning married, non‑working, women - “housewives”. As of January 1996:

A housewife is entitled to an old-age pension, provided she was born after 31 December 1930 and was a resident of Israel between the ages of 60 and 65. This is so, even though a housewife does not pay national insurance premiums;

As of March 1999, the children of a housewife are eligible to a survivor’s pension if their mother passes away;

A housewife is also entitled to a survivor’s pension;

Voluntary insurance remains available to complement this partial compulsory coverage.

It should be noted that applications for old-age pensions are initiated by the National Insurance Institute (NII). Every man and woman, approximately two months before reaching pension age, receives a claims form for old-age pension from the NII (in which most information is already filled in and needs only to be verified), together with an accompanying explanatory letter.

As mentioned in the initial report, there are increments to the old-age benefits, such as seniority increment, deferred retirement income and income supplement. The ceiling limiting the seniority increment is 50 per cent of the pension, and the ceiling of the deferred retirement income is 25 per cent of the pension.

(c)Disability benefits

In January 1998, a comprehensive reform in the scheme of benefits for disabled children came into effect. It reorganizes, and to a large extent broadens, the various grounds or categories of entitlement to benefit for disabled children.

Further, following an agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the National Insurance Institute, the rights of severely disabled persons were significantly expanded as of November 1999. A brief summary of the improvements:

A housewife entitled to “attendance” allowance now receives this allowance at a higher rate than previously (the same rate paid to other disabled). As reported in the initial report, this “attendance” allowance is paid to the severely disabled who are dependent on the help of others for the performance of everyday tasks or who are in need of supervision;

Severely disabled persons who receive both disability pension and attendance allowance may now receive mobility benefits as well;

The means test for entitlement to the special attendance allowance for working disabled persons has been made more flexible;

Notable improvements have been made in the scope of persons eligible for mobility allowance, as well as in the amount of this allowance.

In addition to the various benefits for the disabled, the NII provides, through the Fund for the Development of Services for the Disabled, funding for the enhancement of the existing network of services for the disabled in Israel, and the development of new services. As of January 1999, there were approximately 1,000 active projects, of which some 200 were approved during 1998.

In the framework of this Fund, an allotment of NIS 22.6 million was approved in May 1999, to assist in the planning and development of accessibility of the disabled in public places, such as schools, community centres, libraries and courts.

Among other benefits under General Disability Insurance, mention was made in Israel’s initial report of special benefit for new immigrants. This benefit is equivalent to disability pension plus attendance allowance, and is paid to entitled disabled new immigrants.

(d)Survivors’ benefits

Since Israel’s initial report, the only change to be noted is that which entitles the children of “housewives” to survivors’ pension, as already described above (under “old-age benefits”).

(e)Employment injury benefits

In addition to the groups covered for employment injury benefits, already mentioned in Israel’s initial report, mention should be made of the following group which is now covered: a person training under the Emergency Work Service Law, 1967.

With regard to the work disability grant mentioned in Israel’s Initial Report, workers disabled with a disability degree of 1 to 20 per cent (exclusive) receive a one-time work disability grant equivalent to 70 monthly pensions.

(f)Income support benefits

In May 2000, the National Insurance Institute (“NII”) paid income support benefits to approximately 127,131 families which did not earn the minimum level of income as determined by the Income Support Law, 5740-1980, and which were not covered by other income maintenance programmes.

(g)Child allowances

Every single-parent family with a child between the ages of 6 and 14 is eligible for a study grant, paid at the beginning of every school year. In 1998, coverage of the study grant was broadened to include also large families, which receive a subsistence benefit from the NII. In 1999, coverage was further broadened to include orphans, abandoned children, children who immigrated to Israel without an insured person and women residing in shelters for battered women.

As explained in Israel’s initial report, Child Allowance rates are linked to the unit of “one credit point”, as defined in the Income Tax Order. The actual value of one credit point is now NIS 171 per month (as of January 2000).

Up until 1997, the NII followed a policy of setting off children’s allowances against any income tax debts of the parents. This policy had a disproportionate effect on poorer families. In 1997, the National Insurance Regulations in this regard were amended and the provision under which the set-off policy had operated was nullified

In January 2000, a family with one child received NIS 171 a month (approx. US$ 43); a family with two children received NIS 342; with three children - NIS 684; four children - NIS 1,377; and five children - NIS 1,959 per month. In 1999, 891,500 families received children’s allowances, amounting to 19 per cent of the total benefits paid by the National Insurance Institute (NII).

3. Expenditures

Social security benefit payments amounted to 8.7 per cent of the GNP in 1999, and 8.9 per cent in 1998. Israel’s Initial Report showed a clear increased share of benefit payments in both the GNP and government budget during the decade until 1995. The increase continued in 1997, stabilized in 1998 and rose slightly in 1999.

4. Combined public and private social security schemes

(a)The pension system in Israel

The pension system in Israel as depicted in the Initial Report, has undergone a change concerning the budgetary pension, which all civil servants and municipal employees receive under a special law. A comprehensive collective agreement was concluded in 1998, aimed at the gradual abolition of the budgetary pension system and its replacement with the regular pension schemes existing in collective agreements. The implementation of this agreement is still pending, due to practical and legal problems that arose after its signing. The issue is pending before the courts.

There is still no legislation insuring any type of pension scheme to all workers. Israeli NGO’s regularly criticize the Government on this issue. The reality is that this is a rather complex and difficult issue. Every Minister of Labour and Social Affairs who has entered into office since Israel’s initial report has pledged and has made actual attempts to act on this issue. Private Knesset members have introduced new proposed legislation. However, the implications of such legislation, in terms of governmental expenditures, as repeatedly pointed out by the Ministry of Finance, seem to be too serious to be overcome in the near future. Nevertheless, the issue is regularly re-evaluated within the relevant government ministries.

(b)Long-term care

The year 1998 marked a decade since the enactment of the Long-term Care Insurance Law. The Law has had a very favourable impact on the lives of tens of thousands of dependent elderly and their families. Long-term care insurance has recently been the focus of a comprehensive re-examination, with the aim of attaining a more equitable and efficient allocation of resources for the benefit of the dependent elderly population.

One of the results of this re-examination has been the introduction in March 2000, of the short-term nursing benefit, a new and unique benefit paid for a period of 60 days, mainly to patients having acute functional difficulties.

5. Equality in social security

Since the submission of Israel’s initial report, there have been some notable positive changes enhancing equality in social security, which have already been presented in this report:

The gradual erosion in the historical distinctions existing between “housewives” and other women in old-age benefits, survivors’ benefits and disability insurance;

The improvements in the benefits of severely disabled persons.

In order to further promote the welfare of women in Israel, a steering committee has been set up which is headed by the Director General of the NII.

In addition, mention should be made of a number of examples of recent legislation bearing on the subject of gender equality in social security:

The definition of “self-employed” was changed, allowing women who work part-time to be insured for employment injury and to be eligible for maternity allowance;

Payment of maternity allowance to fathers, allowing women to return to work before the end of the 3-month maternity leave, leaving the infant with its father;

The period during which a woman must rest, due to risk pregnancy, is now considered part of the qualifying period for purposes of maternity allowance;

The expansion of the definition of single-parent family, to include women who have just begun the divorce process, in civil or religious courts.

Benefit recipients in the eastern Jerusalem neighbourhoods

The Committee expressed its concern in its concluding observations regarding the coverage of Arab population living in the eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem. The following tables show the actual situation for 1999 of both aspects to be taken into consideration: the benefits granted and the contributions collected.

Table 21

Benefit recipients in the eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem out of

total recipients of benefits from NII, December 1999

	Total recipients	Recipients in Eastern Jerusalem	Rate of benefit recipients out of residents (%)
In Israel	In Eastern Jerusalem
Total residents (December 1998)	-	-	6 041 400	196 600
Old-age and survivors	644 792	7 454	10.7	3.8
Thereof: Old age	540 054	4 629	8.9	2.4
Survivors	104 738	2 825	1.7	1.4
With income supplement	199 894	3 511	3.3	1.8
Income support	116 158	1 565	1.9	0.8
Long-term care	88 723	a	1.5	0
Alimony	23 710	259	0.4	0.1
Unemployment	106 213	a	1.8	0
General disability	130 854	1 394	2.2	0.7
Disabled child	14 469	497	0.2	0.3
Mobility	14 523	70	0.2	0
Attendance allowance	15 172	189	0.3	0.1
Families with children	902 207	8 753	14.9	9.5
Families with 4 plus children	147 403	8 530	2.4	4.3
Children	2 097 345	64 265	34.7	32.7
Employment, injured, disabled and dependants	25 705	356	0.4	0.2
Injury allowance	6 075	a	0.1	0
Hostile action casualties	2 608	24	0	0
Maternity allowance	5 432	a	0.1	0

a The data are included in the total number of recipients in the main Jerusalem branch.

One should note the relatively low rate of collection of contributions to the NII from residents of eastern Jerusalem, even though these are obligatory under the National Insurance Law.

Table 22

Collection of contributions from residents of eastern Jerusalem (estimates), 1999

	Nationwide total	Eastern Jerusalem	Eastern Jerusalem as % of nationwide total
Number of insured Persons
Employees	1 714 400	34 300	2.0
Non-employees	871 368	23 928	2.7
Total collection (NIS million per 1999)	23 734	85	0.4
Average wage per employee (NIS per month)	5 827	3 063	52.6
Average income per employee (NIS per month)	6 068	2 478	40.8

The poor

The principal recent developments in the area of poverty in Israel have been as follows. The following table clearly shows that in 1997, the incidence of poverty in Israel stabilized, and that it remained stable in 1998 as well.

Table 23

Poor population in Israel, under selected poverty measures, 1997-1999

Percentage of decrease stemming from transfer payments and direct taxes	Percentage of decrease stemming from transfer payments only	After transfer payments and direct taxes	After transfer payments only	Before transfer payments and direct taxes	Poverty measure
					1997
					Poor population
-	-	285 456	239 558	514 920	Families
		1 009 957	824 288	1 677 201	Persons
		432 015	348 721	650 484	Children
					Poverty Incidence (%)
44.5	53.5	17.7	14.9	32.0	Families
39.8	50.8	18.2	14.9	30.3	Persons
33.6	46.4	22.9	18.5	34.4	Children

Table 23 ( continued )

Percentage of decrease stemming from transfer payments and direct taxes	Percentage of decrease stemming from transfer payments only	After transfer payments and direct taxes	After transfer payments only	Before transfer payments and direct taxes	Poverty measure
					1998
					Poor population
		292 500	238 700	548 100	Families
		1 033 000	846 200	1 789 800	Persons
		439 500	360 700	705 800	Children
					Poverty Incidence (%)
46.6	56.5	17.5	14.3	32.8	Families
42.3	52.7	18.2	14.9	31.5	Persons
37.7	48.9	22.8	18.7	36.7	Children
					1999
					Poor population
		308 300	258 900	552 800	Families
		1 133 900	947 700	1 813 300	Persons
		509 700	427 700	719 300	Children
					Poverty Incidence (%)
44.2	53.2	18	15.1	32.2	Families
37.5	47.8	19.5	16.3	31.2	Persons
29.2	40.6	26	21.8	36.7	Children

Source: The National Insurance Institute.

The relative stability in the incidence of poverty in Israel that characterized the population as a whole was also observed among specific population groups, with the exception of families headed by an elderly person, single-parent families and new immigrant families, whose poverty incidence declined in 1998. This stability is notable, in view of the recession in economic activity and the slack in the labour market. It testifies to the central role played by the system of transfer payments in ensuring economic protection in times of unemployment and distress.

The improvement in families headed by an elderly person was not only in the incidence of poverty among these families, but also in the average income per poor family. The major reason for this is the increase which occurred in 1998 in the basic old-age benefit and the minimum income – relative to the average wage in the economy and the poverty line.

The decline in the incidence of poverty among single-parent families is attributed to a large extent to the improvement, which occurred in 1998, in the level of the income support benefit relative to the average wage in the economy and the poverty line.

The Public Council for Reducing Gaps in Society and the War on Poverty submitted its final recommendations in December 1999. The Council examined economic and social distress not only from the point of view of income, but also in the areas of education, housing, health and social services. It recommended measures for improving the existing methods of measuring poverty and incomes gaps, and increasing the knowledge of these phenomena, in order to build a more concrete basis for developing social policy and early intervention programmes.

Under an amendment to the National Insurance Law passed in November 1998, the NII now pays wage-replacing benefits at the least on the basis of the minimum wage. This change should have a noticeable impact in the future.

For a further review of trends and changes in national legislation, court decisions, etc., please see the National Insurance Institute’s report, Summary of Developments and Trends in Social Security - 1999, submitted to the International Social Security Association (ISSA) (attached in annex V of the present report).*

Article 10: Familial rights

1. Related international conventions binding Israel

Israel is a party to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. In May 1997, Israel submitted its initial report to the Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Its second report will be submitted in the coming months.

Since 1991, Israel has been a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Its second report will also be submitted to the Committee in the coming months.

Since 1991, Israel has been a party to the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, and will soon be submitting its initial report.

Israel is a party to the ILO Minimum Age Convention 1979 (No. 138). Its last report for the years 1996-2000 was submitted in August, 2000.

2. Meaning of “family”

(a)The definition of the term “family” in Israeli law

No change has occurred since Israel submitted its Initial Report.

(b)Meaning of family in administrative practice

No change has occurred since Israel submitted its initial report.

3. Majority

No change has occurred since Israel submitted its initial report, except the amendment of the Marriage Age Law 1960, described below under “Marriage”.

4. Assistance to the family and its protection

(a)The Fundamental Right to Family Life

The Halperin Committee: At the present time, ovules donation is permitted under Israeli law only in the case of a self-donation by a woman undergoing IVF treatment. Following an ongoing public debate on the subject, the Minister of Health decided, on 29 February 2000, on the establishment of a public committee, to examine the social, ethical, religious and legal aspects of ovules donation. The committee is examining, inter alia, the legitimacy of an ovule donation from a woman other than the one undergoing the IVF treatment, and the appropriate supervision and registration procedures of such process. The committee will also look into the desirability for legislation to regulate the rights and duties of all parties involved in such IVF process, including the resulting children, and shall submit its recommendations as to any related subject which it finds relevant. (More information about the actions of the committee can be obtained from the Israeli Ministry of Health Web site, www.health.gov.il).

Surrogate Motherhood: As of October 2000, 78 surrogacy agreements were approved, resulting in the birth of 26 children in 19 childbirths (due to the prevalence of twins). Two other surrogate mothers are currently pregnant. Twenty-five couples whose agreements had been approved terminated the process midway, or completed the surrogacy process which did not result in a pregnancy. Two of the prospective parents gave birth to children unaided by a surrogate after the approval of their surrogacy agreements.

(b)Marriage

In the initial report it was stated that women may consent to marry without their parent’s or guardian’s permission from the age of 17, whereas there was no minimum age for males to consent to marry. The Marriage Age Law, 1950, was amended in 1998, and in accordance with the amendment, the rules applying to female youngsters now apply equally to males.

Article 5 of the Marriage Age Law, 1950, provided for two alternative grounds for judicial permission of under-age marriage. The amendment in 1998 added a third ground which permits a young male to marry, if the woman he wants to marry became pregnant or gave birth to his child.

(c)Strengthening and protecting the family

As far as economic benefits granted by the State to aid families see under article 9 in this report (social security).

Family reunification

In its concluding observations to Israel’s initial report. The Committee further expressed concern with the process of family reunification for foreign spouses. This process is a gradual process, which lasts approximately five years from the day of the request. During the waiting period the spouse receives visiting visas and temporary residency licenses, so that he or she can work and live in Israel.

The probation period test has three criteria: (a) whether the spouse is indeed a sincere spouse, (b) whether the spouse is not a risk to the security of Israel or to public safety, and (c) whether the spouse’s centre of life is in Israel. At the end of this process the spouse receives a permanent residency licence.

Since 1990 there have been approximately 10,000 reunification applications in the eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem, most of which were in the years 1994-1995. Due to lack of manpower, combined with the large number of applicants, the length of time that it took to complete the process increased. In 1999, the Interior Ministry increased the number of personnel dealing with these requests, creating a special team for this purpose. Since then the length of time needed to complete this process has decreased, and the whole process became more efficient. As of now, all requests filed up to the year 2000 have been dealt with. During 2001, it should be possible to give immediate responseto each application. A final response will still take a matter of months, since the process is a complicated one.

Of the 10,000 applications, 6,000 are in various stages of this process. Most of these applicants have received visiting and residency permits, and effectively live in Israel with their spouses. Seven hundred have completed the process and have received a permanent residency permit and are now permanent residents. The remainder have received a negative answer to their application. Negative answers are due to failure to meet the various criteria: sincerity of marriage, that the spouse’s centre of life is in Israel, or a criminal or security problem.

Israel’s Supreme Court, in its decision in HCJ 3648/97 Stamka v. The Minister Of Internal Affairs, ruled that there must be equality in the status of spouses of Jewish and non‑Jewish Israeli citizens concerning the acquisition of Israeli citizenship by marriage. This was done by upholding a change in the Ministry of Interior’s policy, which no longer favours Jewish citizens by automatically granting citizenship to their foreign national spouses. The Supreme Court held that section 4 (a) of the Law of Return should apply solely to the spouses of new Jewish immigrants, and not to those of Israeli Jewish citizens, regardless of their ethnic origin.

(d)Equality of treatment

Discrimination due to Sexual Orientation: On 21 February 2000, the High Court of Justice ordered the Minister of Interior to register the adoption of a child by his mother’s lesbian partner in the Population Registration. The Court upheld the validity of an adoption order granted by a court in the child’s native state of California, and rejected the registration clerk’s

claim that the registration of two mothers of one child is “biologically impossible” (HCJ 1779/99 Brener-Kadish v. the Minister of Interior). It should be noted that a request for a rehearing by an extended panel of the Supreme Court has been filed in this matter.

5. Maternity protection

(a)Maternity leave and protection of pregnant working women

The Women’s Employment Law, 1954, has been amended several times since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

In general, there is an ongoing move from protective-paternalistic legislation which restricts the participation in the workforce by pregnant women and women who gave birth, to legislation which sees the family-unit as a whole and advances greater involvement of fathers in child-rearing.

For example, the 1998 amendment to the Employment of Women Law, 1954 has given a pregnant woman the option to decide whether or not to work over-time, provided she supplies her employer with a medical certificate. The law thus trusts the woman as capable of assessing her exact physical and emotional condition, as well as her economic needs.

Similarly, the prohibition against employing a woman during her period of maternity pay-leave had been criticized. This rule was amended in 1997, to allow the couple to decide for themselves who would take the maternity leave during the second half of the 12-week maternity‑leave period following the birth of a child. This particular change is even more revolutionary than the first change mentioned above, in the sense that it relates to deeply held public convictions and perceptions of motherhood versus fatherhood. Indeed, data from the National Insurance Institute indicates that this new law has been ahead of the public opinion. In 1999, two years since its enactment, only 218 of the fathers have taken advantage of this option to take the last six weeks of the maternity leave instead of their wives. When compared to the total requests presented that year, this constitutes a mere one-third of one per cent (0.33 per cent) of the requests.

Likewise, the right to the 12 weeks of maternity pay-leave in the case of an adoption of a child, which until 1998 could be claimed only by the adoptive mother, is now being awarded to either of the adoptive parents according to their own choice.

In addition, the Sick Pay (Absence from Work due to Pregnancy and Childbirth by Spouse) Law, 2000, entitles an employee to take seven days of sick leave per year, out of his total amount of “sick days” for the purpose of accompanying his spouse to treatments or medical examinations related to her pregnancy or to her delivery.

A 1999 Tel Aviv District Labour Court decision has adopted a broad interpretation to the privilege of a working mother to pass her right for a shorter working day to her spouse. The court stated that this privilege is reserved to all working mothers, regardless of whether they are hired employees or self-employed. The court held that this interpretation, which expands the circle of male workers willing to tend to their children while their spouse is working, was in accordance with the principles of basic equality as well as with the objective of the Equal Employment Opportunities Law, and should be seen as encouraging the incorporation of women within high-ranking positions. It must be pointed out that the Na’amat Women’s Organization joined in the case alongside the husband-claimant (Menahem Yahav and Na’amat v. The State of Israel).

The 1998 amendment to the Employment of Women Law, 1954 also extended the period of the protection during which pregnant women, women on maternity leave and women who are on high-risk pregnancy leave cannot be dismissed from their place of employment. This period was extended by the amendment for an additional 45 days after the woman’s return to work. This amendment will make it far less tempting for employers to hire replacements during the employee’s absence where such replacement would simply stay on once the protected employee can be legally fired. The amendment further prohibits any cutback in a pregnant employee’s post without permission from the Minister on Labour and Social Affairs.

However, it must be noted that the percentage of such permissions for dismissals or for diminishing pregnant employees’ posts has increased from approving 50 per cent of the requests in 1997, to 54 per cent in 2000.

Thus, in the first nine months of 2000, 339 permissions for dismissals were given (77 of the permissions were justified by financial difficulties the workplace was facing at the time of dismissal, and another 43 permissions followed the employee’s consent). In 82 of the 213 cases in which permissions were denied, the employee returned to work before the decision was given.

Table 24

Applications and permissions for dismissals of pregnant employees, 1997-2000

Year	Number of applications	Number of permissions
1997 1998 1999 2000 (first nine months)	760 844 828 627	385 468 419 339

Source: Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

As to the procedural aspects of handling these cases, in the course of the year 2000 the department supervisors began to provide the worker with the employer’s request for her dismissal, so that her right to be heard can be more efficiently effected.

Finally, in 2000, an amendment to the Employment of Women Law, 1954 granted an employee the rights to absence from work and to protection from dismissal, when her absence is due to her need to stay in a battered women’s shelter. The law defines “shelter” broadly, including any residence used for hiding from a battering spouse, provided that a social worker certifies that the woman or her child is endangered.

(b)Benefits and cash payments

As of April 2000 women who are unable to work due to a high-risk pregnancy receive the equivalent of their salary from the NII, up to 100 per cent of the average wage.

The “maternity grant” given to the mother immediately upon birth of her baby or to the adoptive parents, to help cover some of the initial costs of preparing their home for the baby, is currently equivalent to NIS 1,269 (slightly over US$ 300).

From the third child onward, families receive an additional “birth allowance” for 20 months. The allowance is equal to a certain percentage of the average monthly salary, which decreases with time.

Presently, the “maternity grant” is only given to women who give birth in a recognized medical facility. This legal situation is problematic, especially for Bedouin women who occasionally give birth outside these medical institutions. Several draft laws seek to extend the range of maternity grant receivers, to include women who do not give birth in an official medical institution. These draft laws are still in the primary stages of the legislative process. Another draft law in its primary stages seeks to prohibit the dismissal of a worker undergoing in vitro fertility treatments (IVF). (Additional information is produced in this report under the section on article 9.)

(c)History and development

See annex V for a summary of developments and trends in Social Security - 1999. *

(d)Equality

No changes have occurred since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

6. Youth protection

The Youth Employment Law, 1953, prohibits employment of persons under the age of 15. This law has been amended since the submission of Israel’s initial report. The main amendments consist of the following:

The penal sanctions were made more stringent;

The matter of use of youth in appearances and publications was regulated;

The matter of medical examinations of youngsters was regulated.

For detailed information on these matters, please refer to Israel’s report to the ILO under Minimum Age Convention (No. 138), submitted in August 2000.

It should be stressed that the State of Israel is preparing its initial report according to its obligation under the Covenant on the Rights of the Child. The said report will provide more data, as well as more in-depth analysis of regulations and practices relevant to child protection.

Article 11: The right to an adequate standard of living

Since the submission of Israel’s initial report the right of every person to an adequate standard of living has continued to develop as a normative concept in the Israeli legal culture and jurisprudence.

The courts clearly accord great importance to the notion of a right to a “dignified existence”. For example, the National Labour Court’s wording of the purpose of unemployment benefits is “… to enable workers, expelled from the work force, dignified existence until they are accepted to their new job …” (National Labour Court, Yafit Gisin v. National Insurance Institute, Taba 98/0-48, 10 August 1998).

Paragraph 5 of the Severance Pay Law grants a deceased employee’s right to severance pay to his or her survivor. Holding that “The purpose of this statute was to enable survivors an honourable existence …” the court denied an employer the right to deduct from the severance pay a debt of the deceased employee (National Labour Court Balk Chemicals Inc. v. Sarah Feler, Taba 57/3-124, 28 June 1998).

Israel’s initial report mentioned the interpretation given to the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom (1992) in a book written by Justice Aharon Barak, the president of Israel’s Supreme Court, according to which the right to basic needs is part of the constitutional right to human dignity, entrenched in the basic law (Barak 1994:416). This approach was adopted by Judge Elishevah Barak, currently deputy president of the National Labour Court, in a decision already reported in article 2 of this report. According to Judge Elishevah Barak the right to work “derives from the notion that human dignity presupposes a minimum of human existence …” (Taba 54/2-289 Dr. Orly Peret v. Dr. Amitzur Farkash). Judge E. Barak went on to explicitly state that this right is protected under the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom (1992).

While the above decisions still do not constitute a coherent and systematic judicial approach, a recent binding precedent from the Supreme Court on the issue should be taken into account.

In a judgement delivered on 19 March 2001 by Israel’s Supreme Court in the case of Gamzo v. Ishayahu (REC 4905/98), the court interpreted the Enforcement of Judgments Law, 1967 in a novel manner. This law grants discretionary power to spread alimony payments whenever needed due to “special reasons”. The court ruled that these “special reasons” include protecting the “hard core” of the right to minimal standard of living, the right to adequate food and the right to proper health care of both the debtor and the holder of the right to alimony. The court added (holding with the said “interpretive approach”) that the “hard core” of these rights is protected by the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty.

This new precedent constitutes a further step towards recognition of the right to a “minimal” standard of living, at least for the purposes of interpretation of statutes. In the context of this ruling, there was no need to consider recognition of a concept of “decent” standard of living as well.

1. The current standard of living of Israel’s population

(a)Available data on living standard and poverty

Standard of living

The following tables (issued by the Central Bureau of Statistics in 2000) present the main available data up to the date of this report on the standard of living in Israel.

Table 25

Survey of household expenditure 1997

Urban households

Monthly income and expenditure, by deciles of net income per standard person 1998

	Deciles
10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	Total
Upper limit of decile (NIS)		6 033	4 859	4 020	3 426	2 892	2 478	2 061	1 694	1 263
Households in sample	689	622	634	606	603	566	570	555	536	481	5 862
Households in population (thousands)	167.1	167.1	167.1	166.6	167.6	167.2	166.9	167.2	167.2	167.4	1 671.4
Average number of persons in househ old	2.7	2.8	3.1	3.2	3.4	3.4	3.5	3.8	4.4	3.8	3.4
Average standard persons in household	2.4	2.4	2.6	2.7	2.8	2.8	2.8	3.0	3.3	3.0	2.8
Average earners in household	1.5	1.4	1.5	1.4	1.3	1.2	1.0	0.8	0.7	0.4	1.1
	NIS per household per month at average prices of 1998
Gross money income	25 977	14 675	12 113	10 136	8 456	6 755	5 620	4 820	4 175	2 566	9 330
Compulsory payments	8 431	3 786	2 739	2 036	1 44 7	1 055	714	534	376	217	2 064
Net money income	17 546	10 889	9 374	8 100	7 010	5 700	4 905	4 286	3 799	2 349	7 267
Money consumption expenditure	10 880	9 012	7 691	7 064	6 666	5 775	5 472	5 241	5 018	4 073	6 688
CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES - TOTAL	14 090	11 510	10 110	9 120	8 706	7 568	7 109	6 638	6 245	4 680	8 577
Food (excl. fruit, vegetables)	1 584	1 418	1 288	1 204	1 245	1 115	1 115	1 124	1 219	934	1 224
Vegetables and fruit	391	354	330	316	340	316	297	301	318	251	321
Housing	2 591	2 312	2 238	2 108	2 105	1 964	1 843	1 721	1 545	1 054	1 948
Dwelling and household maintenance	1 420	1 026	909	793	794	669	626	559	544	415	775
Furniture and household equipment	626	736	577	514	454	316	448	364	322	197	455
Clothing and footwe ar	448	376	341	289	288	283	290	309	294	223	314
Health	612	529	399	371	358	295	256	238	195	141	339
Education, culture, entertainment	2 148	1 708	1 475	1 347	1 220	1 081	80 1	811	674	571	1 183
Transport and communications	3 613	2 577	2 103	1 765	1 526	1 163	1 088	851	829	592	1 610
Miscellaneous goods and services	659	476	452	413	376	366	343	360	305	3 01	405

Table 26

Average gross monthly money income of households,

by source of income

Financial data - at uniform prices of each

	Self-employed	All population
Surveyed year	1998	1997	1998	1997
Households (thousands)	157.4	165.7	1 671.3	1 609.3
Average number of persons per household	4.0	4.1	3.4	3.4
Average age of household head	45.2	45.0	46.3	46.3
Average earners per household	1.7	1.7	1.2	1.2
Average monthly money income (NIS)
per household- gross	14 119	13 350	9 330	8 849
- net	10 012	9 441	7 267	6 862
per standard person- gross	4 481	4 231	3 363	3 164
- net	3 178	2 992	2 619	2 454
Sources of income - total (percentages)	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
	Employed work	17.7	16.9	64.6	64.6
	Self-employed work	70.0	71.0	12.0	13.0
	Property and assistance	11.8	11.6	22.5	21.3
	Thereof: assistance and allowances
	- from institutions	5.6	5.6	13.7	13.2
	- from capital	3.2	3.4	2.2	1.9
	Property and assistance from abroad	0.5	0.5	0.9	1.1

Table 27

Average gross monthly money income of urban households,

by source of income, 1997

Financial data - at uniform prices of each

	Surveyed year
1997	1996	1995	1990	1985
Household head - employee
Households (thousands)	896.9	871.4	863.5	632.8	599.1
Average persons per household	3.8	3.8	3.9	3.8	3.8
Average age of household head	40.5	40.5	40.4	41.2	41.1
Average earners per household	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.6	1.6
Average monthly money income (NIS)
Per household- gross	10 519	9 254	8 320	4 027	1 250
- net	8 066	7 200	6 468	3 231	927

Table 27 ( continued )

	Surveyed year
1997	1996	1995	1990	1985
Per standard person- gross	3 447	3 035	2 720	1 337	411
- net	2 643	2 361	2 115	1 073	305
Net money income per standard person
Percentage real change a	2.7	0.3	10.3	21.0	. .
Gini coefficient	0.241	0.238	0.243	0.220	0.218
Sources of income - total (percentages)	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Employed work - total	85.9	86.1	85.8	87.7	89.6
Income of household head	61.3	61.1	61.8	66.4	69.1
Income of household head’s spouse	17.6	17.3	16.7	16.0	15.4
Income of other earners	7.0	7.7	7.3	5.2	5.1
Self-employed work	2.5	2.1	2.5	2.7	1.6
Property and assistance	11.7	11.8	11.3	9.6	8.8
Thereof: assistance and allowances from institutions	7.9	8.0	7.6	6.1	5.7
Household head not working
Households (thousands)	401.1	392.5	372.6	338.4	271.1
Average number of persons per household	2.3	2.2	2.2	2.3	2.3
Average age of household head	61.3	61.6	62.4	60.2	61.2
Average earners per household	0.04	0.05	0.04	0.09	0.08
Average monthly money income (NIS)
Per household- gross	3 367	2 932	2 690	1 327	374
- net	3 204	2 805	2 576	1 287	367
Per standard person- gross	1 617	1 450	1 326	623	180
- net	1 539	1 385	1 270	604	177
Net money income per standard person
Percentage real change (1)	1.9	-2.0	17.7	17.4	. .
Gini coefficient	0.296	0.291	0.296	0.275	0.266
Sources of income - total (percentages)	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Work	4.7	5.2	4.4	10.0	9.4
Property and assistance in Israel - total	89.5	87.9	88.9	83.3	80.9
Capital and property	3.7	3.2	3.4	2.6	2.8
Pensions	27.6	25.4	29.2	24.4	23.9
Allowances and assistance from institutions	56.3	56.8	55.0	54.4	52.6
Assistance from private persons	1.9	2.5	1.3	1.9	1.5
Property and assistance from abroad	5.7	6.9	6.6	6.8	9.7

a Nominal change on the previous year specified in the table after deduction of change in the

Consumer Price Index.

Table 28

Households headed by employee s, by deciles of gross monthly money income per urban household, and by characteristics of household head, 1998

	Deciles of income
Upper	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	Lower	Total
Upper limit (NIS)	-	21 557	15 837	12 633	10 504	8 822	7 349	6 104	4 892	3 614
Gross m oney income	31 426	18 319	14 094	11 557	9 635	8 039	6 732	5 513	4 291	2 655	11 228
Per household (NIS)
Net money income	20 222	13 316	10 937	9 386	8 097	6 886	5 891	4 928	3 928	2 477	8 608
Per household (NIS)
Average number of persons per household	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.1	4.1	4.0	4.0	3.7	3.4	2.5	3.8
Average standard	3.3	3.3	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.1	3.1	3.0	2.8	2.3	3.0
Persons per household
Average age of household head	45.3	43.0	40.9	40.4	39.4	39.1	38.6	37.9	36.9	35 .2	39.7
Total (percentages)	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Years of schooling
Up to 8	0.6	2.1	4.3	5.0	6.6	7.3	11.8	12.9	15.8	13.9	8.0
9-12	19.8	31.7	36.7	46.1	50.4	51.2	50.6	53.7	50.3	44.4	43.5
13+	79.6	66.3	59.1	48.9	43.1	41.5	37.6	33.4	33.9	41.8	48.5
Age
Up to 34	15.2	23.2	32.4	37.1	37.0	40.1	42.6	44.9	48.9	58.2	38.0
35-54	67.9	64.8	56.4	50.7	55.2	49.2	46.2	43.9	42.1	31.7	50.8
55-64	14.3	10.9	9.0	10.3	6.7	8.7	8.7	8.9	7.3	7.1	9.2
65+	(2.7)	(1.2)	2.1	(1.9)	(1.2)	2.0	(2.6)	(2.3)	(1.7)	3.1	2.1
Jews - total	98.3	95.4	93.2	91.9	88.5	85.2	80.4	79.0	74.1	79.2	86.5
Area of birth
A sia-Africa	9.8	14.7	17.8	16.5	14.4	10.1	14.4	13.2	11.6	9.2	13.2
Europe-America	28.8	27.4	26.9	24.7	27.0	28.8	27.8	29.6	29.2	34.1	28.4
Israel	59.6	53.0	48.4	50.6	47.0	45.7	38.0	36.1	33.1	35.8	44.7
Other religions	(1.7)	( 4.6)	(6.8)	8.1	11.6	14.8	19.6	21.0	25.9	20.9	13.5

Table 29

Households headed by employees, by deciles of net monthly money income

per standard person and by characteristics of household head, 1998

	Deciles of income
Upper	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	Lower	T otal
Upper limit (NIS)	-	5 340	4 154	3 471	2 958	2 573	2 210	1 869	1 520	1 166
Gross money income	27 386	17 864	13 989	11 796	10 113	8 533	7 474	6 244	5 266	3 601	11 228
Per household (NIS)
Net money income	17 882	12 775	10 628	9 416	8 257	7 192	6 418	5 473	4 715	3 317	8 608
Per household (NIS)
Average number of persons per household	2.8	3.3	3.4	3.6	3.7	3.8	4.0	4.2	4.7	4.8	3.8
Average standard	2.4	2.7	2.8	2.9	3.0	3.0	3.1	3.2	3.5	3.6	3.0
Persons per household - average age of household head	46.1	42.7	40.9	40.8	39.9	39.0	37.9	37.4	37.6	34.4	39.7
Total (percentages)	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100. 0	100.0	100.0
Years of schooling
Up to 8	1.0	(1.9)	2.3	(4.7)	5.9	8.9	7.1	9.8	16.3	22.3	8.0
9-12	18.3	27.3	34.1	43.0	48.2	48.0	57.8	49.9	56.1	52.1	43.5
13+	80.7	70.8	63.6	52.3	45.9	43.1	35.1	40.3	27.6	25.7	48.5
Age
Up to 34	24.6	29.3	33.7	34.8	37.7	40.4	39.3	45.4	38.8	55.6	38.0
35-54	48.1	55.2	54.7	53.4	51.1	49.9	53.2	47.3	55.0	40.3	50.8
55-64	20.8	13.1	10.1	9.2	8.8	8.4	6.6	5.6	5.3	3.8	9.2
65+	6.6	2.4	(1.5)	(2.6)	(2.5)	(1.2)	. .	(1.8)	. .	. .	2.1

Table 29 ( continued )

	Deciles of income
Upper	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	Lower	Total
Jews - total	99.1	98.1	97.4	95.4	91.8	91.7	84.2	80.1	70.5	56.9	86.5
Area of birth
Asia-Africa	9 .5	12.9	13.5	14.3	14.3	14.1	14.0	12.8	15.3	11.0	13.2
Europe-America	30.8	30.1	30.8	31.0	30.7	32.2	30.2	29.2	23.0	16.2	28.4
Israel	58.7	55.1	53.0	49.2	46.8	45.1	39.8	38.0	32.0	29.7	44.7
Other religions	. .	1.9	(2.6)	(4.7)	(8.2)	8.3	15.8	19 .9	29.5	43.1	13.5

Table 30

Households, by housing density, religion, continent of birth, period of

immigration and type of locality of residence of household head, 1999

	Average density	Persons per room	Total %	'000
3.00+	2.50-2.99	2.01-2.49	2.00	1.5 0-1.99	1.01-1.49	1.00	-1.00
Jews (3)	0.91	0.5	0.7	0.7	2.8	7.3	14.7	22.4	51.0	100.0	1 456.5
Place of birth and period of immigration
Israel	0.98	0.9	1.0	1.1	3.5	9.0	17.7	23.3	43.5	100.0	655.7
Father born in: Israel	0.93	1.0	0.8	1.0	3.2	7.2	13.9	23.0	49.9	100.0	149.2
Asia-Africa	1.09	0.9	1.3	1.3	5.2	12.9	22.9	24.2	31.5	100.0	290.9
Europe-America	0.88	0.7	0.9	0.9	1.4	5.0	13.4	22.4	55.4	100.0	214.1
Asia-Africa	0.90	0.4	0.6	0.9	2.6	8.3	14.3	18.1	54.8	100.0	267.8
Up to 1960	0.82	. .	. .	. .	1.8	5.8	11.1	18.0	62.4	100.0	161.2
1961-1964	1.03	. .	. .	. .	4.8	13.4	19.5	16.4	43.4	100.0	40.0
1965+	1.01	. .	. .	1.7	3.3	11.4	19.4	19.0	43.3	100.0	64.6
Thereof: Asia	0.86	. .	. .	. .	1.6	7.0	14.4	18.0	5 7.7	100.0	123.8
Up to 1960	0.81	. .	. .	. .	1.7	5.8	11.1	17.7	63.1	100.0	88.3
1961-1964	0.97	-	-	. .	-	14.9	22.0	. .	51.1	100.0	7.1
1965+	0.99	. .	. .	. .	. .	8.3	23.2	21.0	42.7	100.0	27.4
Europe-America	0.81	0.2	. .	. .	1.9	4.6	11.1	23.4	58.3	100.0	529.4
Up to 1960	0.60	. .	-	-	. .	1.1	2.6	11.0	84.8	100.0	147.2
1961-1964	0.75	-	-	. .	-	. .	9.4	19.4	68.3	100.0	20.5
1965-1974	0.81	. .	-	-	1.9	5.3	11.3	18.3	62.8	100.0	61.6
1975-1979	0.91	. .	. .	. .	. .	5.3	12.0	26.2	50.5	100.0	24.9
1980-1989	0.87	-	. .	. .	. .	3.8	17.1	19.8	56.1	100.0	30.9
1990-1991	0.94	. .	. .	. .	2.3	5.6	16.0	33.8	41.4	100.0	106.6
1992+	0.95	. .	. .	. .	3.3	7.5	14.9	32.0	41.2	100.0	135.5
Type of locality o f residence (size of locality)
Urban localities	0.91	0.5	0.7	0.8	2.8	7.2	14.4	22.4	51.3	100.0	1 378.1
Jerusalem	1.01	1.6	2.1	2.6	4.2	7.8	12.0	20.7	49.0	100.0	122.5
Tel Aviv-Yafo	0.79	. .	. .	. .	2.6	4.1	8.4	21.9	61.4	100.0	138.2
Haifa	0. 80	. .	. .	-	1.9	5.4	8.7	22.9	59.9	100.0	85.6
100,000-199,999	0.94	0.5	0.5	0.6	3.1	8.2	17.5	21.9	47.7	100.0	427.6
50,000-99,999	0.89	. .	. .	. .	2.2	6.8	14.7	22.4	52.4	100.0	167.4
20,000-49,999	0.91	. .	0.6	0.7	2.1	7.3	14.9	22.8	51.3	10 0.0	274.2
10,000-19,999	0.94	. .	-	. .	4.2	8.5	17.7	23.2	45.9	100.0	75.0
2,000-9,999	0.91	. .	. .	. .	2.2	7.5	13.7	25.2	49.6	100.0	87.2
Thereof:
Development localities (4)	0.96	. .	0.6	1.1	2.6	9.1	16.2	24.5	45.6	100.0	172. 8
North	0.93	. .	. .	1.1	1.9	8.1	15.2	24.9	48.1	100.0	91.5
South	1.00	. .	. .	. .	3.5	10.2	17.3	24.1	42.8	100.0	81.2
Rural localities	0.94	. .	. .	. .	3.0	8.2	18.5	22.5	45.8	100.0	78.4
Moshavim	0.94	. .	. .	. .	3.3	8.2	18.2	22.8	45.8	100.0	48.9
Villages	0.94	. .	. .	. .	. .	8.2	19.1	21.9	45.7	100.0	29.4
Other	1.50	7.9	5.5	5.2	11.8	17.6	17.3	16.7	18.1	100.0	239.7
Religions
Muslims	1.64	10.9	7.1	6.9	13.0	18.2	17.7	13.0	13.2	100.0	160.0
Christians	1.14	. .	. .	. .	9.6	17.5	16.0	22.1	30.9	100.0	40.6
Druze	1.44	. .	6.8	. .	12.6	22.7	17.0	16.1	18.0	100.0	20.1
Others	0.99	. .	. .	-	. .	. .	16.7	37.5	32.6	100.0	18.8
Type of locality of residence (size of locality)
Urban localities	1.50	7.5	5.2	5.1	12.0	17.7	17.4	16.7	18.4	100.0	231.7
Jerusalem	1.78	17.9	8.6	5.6	14.4	15.3	15.5	10.6	12.1	100.0	35.1
10,000+	1.39	5.1	3.3	4.2	12.1	17.5	17.8	18.8	21.3	100.0	132.1
2,000-9,999	1.53	6.9	7.3	6.5	10.5	19.3	17.7	15.9	15.9	100.0	64 .4
Rural localities	1.82	17.5	12.6	. .	. .	13.6	13.2	16.7	. .	100.0	7.9

Table 31 Households, by religion, housing density and continent of birth of household head and children in household, 1999
Religion, persons per room and continent of bi rth	Average children per household	Children in household	Thereof: Households with children aged up to 17 - total	All households
Households with children aged up to 17	All households	6+	4-5	3	2	1
Percentages	Thousands
Jews - grand total (1)	2.18	0.99	2.7	9.2	18.4	33.5	36.2	100.0	661.2	1 456.5
Up to 0.99	1.56	0.31	. .	1.2	9.5	31.4	57.7	100.0	146.7	741.0
1.00-1.99	2.14	1.50	0.9	8.8	21.9	35.7	32.7	100.0	451.8	644.0
2.00-2.99	3.71	3.27	18.2	32.2	14.2	25.0	10.5	100 .0	54.3	61.2
3.00+	6.11	5.57	52.8	26.6	. .	. .	. .	100.0	7.3	7.6
Israel - total	2.34	1.42	3.3	10.4	21.4	35.3	29.5	100.0	398.7	655.7
Up to 0.99	1.62	0.53	. .	. .	10.9	35.5	52.4	100.0	93.3	284.8
1.00-1.99	2.29	1.85	0.9	10.1	26.3	37.5	25.2	100.0	264.8	327.2
2.00-2.99	3.88	3.67	20.0	35.9	15.1	23.5	5.4	100.0	34.6	37.0
3.00+	7.18	6.42	66.1	22.1	. .	. .	. .	100.0	5.4	5.5
Asia-Africa - total	2.22	0.83	2.8	11.7	19.7	27.8	37.9	100.0	99.7	267.8
Up to 0.99	1.55	0.17	-	. .	10.6	26.4	61.7	100.0	16.3	146.2
1.00-1.99	2.17	1.44	. .	11.0	22.7	29.6	35.6	100.0	72.1	108.8
2.00-2.99	3.54	3.24	18.1	31.3	13.1	19.7	17.8	100.0	9.8	10.9
3.00+	(4.61)	(4.35)	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	(1.0)	(1.0)
Europe-America - total	1.75	0.53	1.1	4.8	10.1	32.5	51.5	100.0	161.2	529.4
Up to 0.99	1.39	0.17	-	. .	5.5	23.1	69.5	100.0	36.7	308.3
1.00-1.99	1.76	0.97	. .	4.3	11.3	35.4	48.4	100.0	113.7	206.1
2.00-2.99	2.82	2.1 5	12.1	19.3	12.0	35.2	21.3	100.0	9.6	13.1
3.00+	. .	(2.20)	-	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	(1.0)
Other religions
Grand total	3.04	2.17	9.2	26.1	18.9	23.6	22.2	100.0	1 71.3	239.7
Up to 0.99	1.39	0.38	-	. .	. .	26.2	70.9	100.0	12.4	43.4
1.00-1.99	2.46	1.85	1.3	18.8	23.9	29.8	26.3	100.0	92.9	123.5
2.00-2.99	2.81	3.40	15.7	42.4	17.3	16.8	7.7	100.0	47.6	53.8
3.00+	5.04	4.82	38.5	37.6	9.5	8.4	6.0	100.0	18.2	18.8

Table 32

Households by housing density, size of household and religion, 1999

Persons per room	Persons in household
Average per household	7+	6	5	4	3	2	1	Total %	'000
Jews (2) - Total	3.18	3.9	5.4	12.8	18.4	16.1	24.6	18.7	100.0	1 456.5
Up to 0.49	1.18	-	-	-	. .	0.9	15.0	83.9	100.0	182.4
0.5	1.58	-	-	-	. .	4.9	46.0	48.6	100.0	139.7
0.51-0.99	2.73	. .	0.8	5.8	15.4	25.0	47.8	5.0	100.0	418.8
1.00	3.30	. .	2.4	13.8	28.5	28.7	17.1	9.3	100.0	325.3
1.01-1.49	4.61	5.2	9.1	35.2	42.6	5.4	2.5	-	100.0	213.2
1.50-1.99	5.34	16.3	28.0	33.8	7.4	14.4	-	-	100.0	105.5
2.00	5.27	15.4	39.1	7.7	23.1	3.2	10.9	0.5	100.0	40.5
2.01-2.49	7.78	87.9	12.1	-	-	-	-	-	100.0	10.8
2.50-2.99	7.48	59.2	-	30.6	10.2	-	-	-	100.0	9.9
3.00+	8.20	66.2	16.2	. .	. .	5.4	-	-	100.0	7.6
Other religions - Total	4.85	21.4	14.5	15.7	16.8	14.2	10.9	6.6	100.0	239.7
Up to 0.99	2.21	. .	. .	. .	7.4	26.2	36.8	27.8	100.0	43.4
1.00	3.28	. .	. .	7.5	28.6	35.9	16.6	9.8	100.0	40.1
1.01-1.49	4.77	5.6	11.4	31 .1	42.7	4.4	4.9	-	100.0	41.3
1.50-1.99	5.71	20.3	27.8	34.7	5.7	11.5	-	-	100.0	42.0
2.00	5.83	20.7	47.1	7.9	15.4	3.9	5.0	-	100.0	28.2
2.01-2.49	7.82	91.9	8.1	-	-	-	-	-	100.0	12.4
2.50-2.99	7.95	71.5	-	25.4	. .	-	-	-	100.0	13.0
3.00+	8.51	73.1	18.3	. .	. .	. .	-	-	100.0	18.8
Average number of persons per room
Jews		1.85	1.39	1.17	1.03	0.85	0.64	0.39		0.91
Other religions		2.37	1.72	1.48	1.20	0.94	0.75	0.48		1.50

Table 33

Households by religion, size of household and number of

rooms in dwelling, 1999

Rooms in dwelling	Persons in household
7+	6	5	4	3	2	1	Total
Jews
Total - thousands	56.7	78.8	187.0	268.3	235.1	357.7	272.8	1 456.5
- percentages	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
1	-	-	. .	. .	. .	1.2	11.1	2.5
1.5	-	-	. .	0.4	0.6	1.5	7.8	2.0
2	1.2	1.5	1.6	3.5	6.5	15.6	24.9	10.5
2.5	2.0	1.7	1.7	2.9	4.9	8.3	10.2	5.7
3	18.8	20.0	19.1	27.5	39.7	42.1	32.0	32.1
3.5	3.7	3.7	4.2	6.4	6.2	5.7	2.7	5.0
4	35.0	33.9	33.1	34.6	26.4	18.0	8.6	24.1
4.5+	39.3	39.2	40.0	24.5	15.5	7.7	2.7	18.2

Table 33 ( continued )

Rooms in dwelling	Persons in household
7+	6	5	4	3	2	1	Total
Average rooms per person	0.54	0.71	0.85	0.97	1.18	1.56	2.53	1.09
Other religions
Total - thousands	51.3	34.6	37.5	40.1	33.9	26.0	15.9	239.7
- percentages	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
1	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	5.4	25.0	3.2
2	7.5	9.3	9.9	11.8	17.6	33.3	41.0	15.3
3	40.2	41.4	44.9	44.0	47.9	45.0	25.0	42.2
3.5+	51.0	49.0	44.4	43.0	33.3	16.3	9.0	39.3
Average rooms per person	0.42	0.58	0.67	0.83	1.05	1.33	2.09	0.66

Poverty

The principal recent developments concerning the dimensions of poverty in Israel have been reported above under article 9 of this report (paras. 233-239).

As was set out in Israel’s initial report, data on the topic of poverty should be read in conjunction with the tables presenting the resources and their use, including GNP, GDP, per capita GNP and GDP, private consumption expenditure over the years as well as GNP by deciles. Such tables, as updated since the initial report, are as follows:

Table 34 Resources and uses of resources
				Per capita	Gross domestic product of the business sector	Less:			Uses of resources
Gross national income	Less: net income paid abroad	Gross domestic prod uct	Gross domestic product	Private consumption expenditure	Ownership of dwellings	Services of general government and non-profit institutions	Gross domestic product	Less: imports of goods and services	Exports of goods and services	Gross domestic capital f ormation	Private consump-tion expendi-ture	General government consumption expenditure	Total
At current prices	At constant prices
NIS (thousands)		NIS	NIS million
1950	46	1	47	10 155	5 441	7 109	1 623	5 703	12 864	4 606	575	5 534	6 893	5 450	17 383
1 951	70	1	71	11 202	5 644	9 337	1 936	7 346	16 739	4 920	801	6 539	8 434	6 610	21 129
1952	107	1	108	10 880	5 637	9 738	2 302	7 323	17 476	4 526	1 048	5 623	9 054	6 511	21 213
1953	134	2	136	10 436	5 674	9 411	2 576	7 471	17 223	4 620	1 288	4 704	9 364	6 836	21 126
1954	178	1	179	12 172	6 371	11 342	2 837	8 862	20 564	5 086	1 834	5 250	10 763	7 968	24 629
1955	214	2	216	13 352	6 619	12 760	3 173	10 612	23 371	5 473	1 885	6 465	11 585	9 260	27 563
1956	256	1	257	13 922	6 956	14 007	3 547	11 043	25 456	6 373	2 147	6 111	12 719	12 614	30 593
1957	297	2	299	14 352	7 040	15 375	3 858	11 553	27 706	6 320	2 569	7 159	13 591	11 026	32 442
1958	345	2	347	14 867	7 487	16 603	4 172	11 986	29 735	7 093	2 860	7 688	14 974	11 491	35 249
1959	395	2	397	16 2 59	7 965	18 983	4 580	12 732	33 527	7 599	3 770	8 400	16 425	12 121	39 192
1960	443	3	446	16 883	8 322	20 337	5 008	13 101	35 741	8 750	4 760	8 817	17 617	12 860	42 634
1961	533	5	538	18 099	8 929	22 787	5 366	14 167	39 635	10 806	5 522	10 500	19 554	1 4 934	48 732
1962	632	8	640	19 051	9 450	25 316	5 741	15 124	43 593	12 425	6 486	11 588	21 623	16 476	54 310
1963	762	4	766	20 249	9 999	28 162	6 183	16 470	48 187	13 280	7 451	11 974	23 795	18 308	59 434
1964	884	5	889	21 380	10 650	31 192	6 682	17 625	52 969	15 116	7 904	14 516	26 386	18 977	66 014
1964 (2)	866	12	878	21 109	10 392	30 996	6 434	17 096	52 297	14 659	7 735	14 516	25 746	18 549	64 828
1965	1 038	15	1 052	22 328	10 921	33 880	6 882	19 033	57 217	14 951	8 386	14 603	27 985	20 66 6	69 494
1966	1 140	16	1 156	21 980	10 864	33 692	7 378	20 037	57 790	14 864	9 271	12 234	28 563	22 636	69 879
1967	1 188	18	1 205	21 774	10 736	33 791	7 794	22 005	59 122	16 282	10 041	9 480	29 150	30 230	72 906
1968	1 393	24	1 417	24 304	11 795	40 143	8 553	22 843	68 210	21 140	12 825	14 116	33 102	32 864	87 214
1969	1 607	28	1 635	26 658	12 628	46 059	9 049	24 702	76 886	24 342	13 713	17 864	36 422	38 065	98 966
1970	1 877	35	1 912	27 835	12 536	49 493	9 792	26 746	82 780	28 671	15 046	20 258	37 283	47 395	109 718
1971	2 356	43	2 399	30 009	12 801	55 881	10 722	28 187	92 106	31 724	18 600	24 813	39 289	48 619	121 853
1972	3 033	57	3 090	32 905	13 761	63 751	11 837	29 605	103 377	32 110	21 118	27 832	43 232	48 255	132 270

Table 34 (continued) Resources and uses of resources
				Per capita	Gross domestic product of the business sector	Less:			Uses of resources
Gross national income	Less: net income paid abroad	Gross domestic product	Gross domestic product	Private consumption expenditure	Ownership of dwellings	Services of general government and non-profit institutions	Gross domestic product	Less: imports of goods and services	Exports of goods and services	Gross domestic capit al formation	Private consump-tion expenditure	General government consumption expenditure	Total
At current prices	At constant prices
NIS (thousands)		NIS	NIS million
1973	3 834	111	3 945	33 364	14 423	64 764	13 077	34 825	108 409	43 406	22 273	29 370	46 863	67 855	151 217
1974	5 463	157	5 620	33 990	14 987	68 329	14 193	36 274	114 391	43 703	23 517	28 281	50 436	69 850	156 864
1975	7 895	271	8 166	34 434	14 620	70 531	15 370	37 784	118 772	45 541	23 932	29 652	50 429	76 940	163 083
1976	10 291	323	10 614	34 227	15 009	70 509	16 707	39 265	120 647	44 269	27 449	26 096	52 907	70 826	162 922
1977	15 223	332	15 555	34 166	15 430	71 343	17 788	40 283	123 089	42 925	30 664	24 203	55 588	62 784	163 143
1978	24 531	636	25 167	34 823	16 390	74 120	18 668	42 056	128 145	47 485	32 073	24 831	60 315	67 656	173 686
1979	45 940	1 562	47 502	3 5 585	17 273	77 800	19 510	43 719	134 199	48 793	33 037	27 949	65 140	63 094	180 606
1980	107 245	3 802	111 047	36 005	16 256	81 126	20 353	43 883	138 975	45 765	35 609	24 264	62 747	67 927	180 487
1981	2 56 073	6 350	262 423	37 048	18 058	86 043	21 077	44 266	145 517	50 434	37 477	23 226	70 927	72 328	192 688
1982	579 212	17 780	596 992	36 876	19 175	86 547	21 851	45 696	147 571	52 237	36 173	26 796	76 733	67 630	197 017
	NIS millions
1983	1 496	46	1 542	37 129	20 466	89 161	22 483	46 112	151 344	55 787	36 773	29 810	83 423	64 524	205 316
1984	7 286	326	7 612	37 185	18 683	91 319	23 129	46 629	154 655	55 197	41 767	27 687	77 704	68 292	207 140
1985	27 325	1 119	28 444	38 159	18 593	96 936	23 702	46 420	161 528	54 681	45 949	24 279	78 702	70 780	211 972
1986	42 631	1 561	44 192	38 913	21 070	102 028	24 121	45 62 2	167 277	59 725	48 502	26 070	90 577	63 896	224 080
1987	54 769	1 804	56 573	40 645	22 578	110 470	24 569	45 846	177 574	71 422	53 467	27 654	98 641	75 503	248 214
1988	68 389	1 779	70 168	41 340	23 201	11 4 332	25 092	47 525	183 618	69 388	52 680	28 110	103 053	73 582	250 906
1989	83 241	2 204	85 445	41 148	22 886	115 536	25 665	48 255	185 916	65 879	54 844	27 504	103 402	66 835	248 404
1990	103 556	2 462	10 6 018	42 412	23 414	124 743	26 304	49 060	197 644	72 163	55 923	34 622	109 112	71 917	266 816
1991	132 966	2 484	135 450	42 314	23 610	133 602	27 003	50 912	209 414	83 538	54 371	49 480	116 846	75 208	290 86 3
1992	159 334	3 267	162 601	43 727	24 505	144 951	28 401	52 257	224 037	90 535	61 933	52 534	125 552	76 418	312 514
1993	183 912	3 920	187 832	44 155	25 570	150 646	29 689	53 516	232 320	103 283	68 114	56 07 2	134 533	79 624	334 902
1994	223 821	4 170	227 991	46 073	27 330	163 519	30 715	55 398	248 760	114 417	76 902	60 817	147 564	79 360	363 010
1995	260 250	4 595	264 845	47 765	28 735	176 817	31 728	56 307	264 851	122 986	83 639	66 311	159 330	78 557	387 837

Table 35

Private consumption expenditure, by object and type of expenditure

	NIS millions
1999	1999	1998	1997	1996	1995	1994	1993	1992	1991	1990	1989	1988	1987	1986
At current prices	At 1995 prices(1)
1. National private consumption expenditure - grand total (2+6)	248 606	189 501	183 252	176 973	168 931	159 330	147 564	134 533	125 552	116 846	109 112	103 402	103 053	98 641	90 577
2. Consumption expenditure by Israeli hou seholds (3-4+5)	243 128	185 233	179 229	173 074	165 351	155 994	144 221	131 670	122 665	114 101	106 584	100 930	100 666	96 113	88 153
3. Consumption of Israelis abroad	9 305	8 391	7 726	6 997	6 343	5 620	5 998	5 013	4 346	4 682	4 672	4 795	4 182	3 923	3 664
4. Consumption of non-residents in Israel	12 819	7 472	6 592	7 175	8 131	9 138	9 529	8 854	7 840	5 061	6 024	6 411	5 809	6 574	5 575
5. Consumption expenditure of households in the domestic market - total	246 642	184 433	177 992	173 201	167 138	159 512	147 650	135 409	126 102	114 617	107 948	102 519	102 304	98 733	90 053
By object
Food beverages and tobacco	51 873	38 423	37 914	37 941	37 131	35 414	33 245	30 611	28 464	27 350	25 940	24 729	24 412	23 220	21 493
Clot hing footwear and personal effects	10 695	9 575	9 403	9 438	9 828	10 011	9 288	8 155	6 890	6 021	5 572	5 161	5 395	5 641	4 584
Housing	57 058	41 621	40 247	38 639	36 947	35 468	34 412	33 334	31 918	30 334	29 527	28 809	28 166	27 579	26 991
Electricity an d fuel - home consumption (2)	5 483	4 128	4 108	3 844	3 575	3 340	3 141	2 968	2 824	2 304	2 173	2 116	1 954	1 764	1 634
Furniture furnishings and household equipment	20 217	16 126	15 528	14 591	13 184	12 167	10 195	9 074	8 128	7 271	6 614	5 754	5 809	5 726	5 273
Household maintenance	7 587	5 536	5 178	4 931	4 683	4 358	4 076	3 970	3 603	3 464	3 429	3 272	3 368	3 254	3 005
Personal care and health	15 123	11 654	11 341	10 255	10 249	9 801	12 521	11 034	9 984	9 091	8 706	8 231	7 556	7 222	6 497
Transp ort and communications	35 055	26 424	24 723	24 326	23 181	21 976	19 810	17 759	17 481	14 086	12 249	11 529	12 606	11 353	9 819
Recreation and entertainment	24 962	17 289	16 522	16 216	15 740	15 228	13 457	11 751	10 859	9 269	9 162	9 235	9 165	9 361	8 374
Other goods and services	18 590	13 623	12 999	13 001	12 622	11 751	8 212	7 862	7 380	6 955	6 322	5 959	5 663	5 314	5 020
By type
Durable goods - total	28 045	22 788	22 093	21 511	20 527	19 143	16 567	14 807	14 683	11 785	9 778	8 348	9 637	8 891	7 851
Furniture	7 032	5 268	5 415	5 078	4 796	4 477	4 059	3 534	3 102	2 897	2 577	2 547	2 393	2 361	2 214
Household equipment	13 185	10 890	10 120	9 520	8 388	7 690	6 156	5 553	5 033	4 388	4 046	3 236	3 432	3 382	3 077
Personal transport eq uipment	7 828	6 532	6 450	6 881	7 343	6 976	6 414	5 776	6 709	4 542	3 112	2 523	3 953	3 189	2 546

Table 35 (continued)

NIS million
	1999	1999	1998	1997	1996	1995	1994	1993	1992	1991	1990	1989	1988	1987	1986
	At current prices	At 1995 prices (1)
Non-d urable goods - total	86 385	65 273	64 585	63 476	62 924	60 641	56 503	51 631	46 906	43 388	40 987	39 044	38 546	37 306	33 309
Food beverages and tobacco	51 873	38 423	37 914	37 941	37 131	35 414	33 245	30 611	28 464	27 350	25 940	24 729	24 412	23 220	2 1 493
Fuel and electricity	10 611	6 949	6 894	6 679	6 467	6 115	5 746	5 380	5 101	4 320	3 969	3 965	3 725	3 437	3 093
Clothing, footwear and personal effects	10 695	9 575	9 403	9 438	9 828	10 011	9 288	8 155	6 890	6 021	5 572	5 161	5 395	5 641	4 584
Non-durable household goods	2 884	2 102	1 970	1 849	1 708	1 545	1 474	1 599	1 303	1 225	1 221	1 091	1 141	1 009	867
Personal care and medical products	7 008	5 537	5 615	4 770	4 947	4 717	4 405	3 711	3 186	2 752	2 622	2 462	2 131	2 074	1 756
Books newspapers and stationery	1 705	1 288	1 314	1 354	1 434	1 394	1 259	1 301	1 186	1 069	1 069	1 130	1 066	1 211	1 016
Recreation goods and miscellaneous	1 609	1 375	1 463	1 416	1 409	1 445	1 115	962	920	817	763	750	772	700	648
Housing	57 058	41 621	40 2 47	38 639	36 947	35 468	34 412	33 334	31 918	30 334	29 527	28 809	28 166	27 579	26 991
Other services	75 154	54 674	51 032	49 577	46 740	44 260	40 654	36 609	33 753	30 580	29 370	28 580	27 587	26 816	24 605
6. Non-profit institutions(a) - Total	5 478	4 2 62	4 018	3 893	3 580	3 336	3 371	2 867	2 915	2 777	2 555	2 511	2 412	2 595	2 504
Health institutions	865	751	705	690	606	574	580	556	624	591	574	666	725	902	931
Education culture and research welfare and religious institutions	2 775	2 006	1 809	1 771	1 623	1 437	1 453	1 347	1 325	1 263	1 095	1 036	943	974	920
Trade unions political organizations etc.	1 838	1 495	1 503	1 432	1 351	1 325	1 338	960	966	922	890	869	867	910	867
	a Excluding non-profit institutions financed mainly by the Governm ent; excluding expenditure on food and medical products which are included in other items of consumption.

Physical quality of life index

289.As mentioned in its initial report, Israel still does not have a physical quality of life index. The National Council for Diminishing Social Gaps and the War on Povertyhas recommended creating one but its recommendation has not yet been acted upon.

2. The right to adequate food

290.No notable changes have occurred in the manner in which this right is viewed by the Government by the bodies responsible for offering assistance and in the way the right is implemented.

(a)Income maintenance

291.No notable changes have occurred on this issue since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

(b)Nutrition services

292.Pursuant to a recent amendment to the National Health Insurance Law special assistance is provided to those who need special dietary food due to “medical conditions” as a part of the “basket of services” provided under the law. The data provided in Israel’s initial report concerning nutrition is hereby updated as follows:

Table 36

The Food Balance Sheet: calories and nutrients per capita per day

	1999	1998	R1997	1990	1980	1970	1960
	Calories (Kcal)
Total	3 543	3 616	3 503	3 089	2 979	2 988	2 772
Cereals and cereal products	1 112	1 184	1 085	986	1 048	1 067	1 157
Potatoes and starches	96	91	88	66	89	79	77
Sugar and honey	461	463	459	381	323	376	311
Chocolate, sweets and jam	202	195	187	101	90	84	68
Miscellaneous grains and nuts	135	132	153	152	114	96	85
Vegetables (1)	121	120	103	103	69	77	67
Fruit and melons (1)	162	195	196	169	150	164	147
Oils and fats (1)	579	567	558	486	496	452	406
Meat	343	338	340	317	284	264	143
Eggs	58	58	58	72	77	89	73
Fish	25	27	25	18	12	16	18
Milk and dairy products (1)	249	246	251	238	227	224	220
	Protein (grams)
Total	105.3	107.1	104.4	97.4	92.2	91.5	85.1
Thereof: animal (1)	52.7	52.2	52.5	49.9	45.4	44.3	34.0
Cereals and cereal products	35.8	38.2	34.9	31.7	34.1	34.6	39.7
Potatoes and starches	2.1	2.0	1.9	1.4	1.9	1.8	1.7
Chocolate, sweets and jam	1.2	1.2	1.1	0.5	0.4	0.3	0.1
Miscellaneous grains and nuts	5.9	5.9	7.3	6.8	5.0	4.5	4.0
Vegetables (1)	5.5	5.4	4.4	5.1	3.5	3.7	3.5
Fruit and melons (1)	2.1	2.2	2.3	2.0	1.9	2.3	2.1

Table 36 (continued)

	1999	1998	R1997	1990	1980	1970	1960
	Protein (grams)
Meat	28.1	27.6	27.7	25.6	22.5	20.8	11.8
Eggs	4.4	4.4	4.4	5.5	5.9	6.8	5.5
Fish	4.4	4.5	4.4	3.4	2.4	2.7	3.0
Milk and dairy products (1)	15.8	15.7	16.0	15.4	14.6	14.0	13.7
	Fat (grams)
Total	133.7	132.3	130.8	117.6	111.5	104.3	86.7
Thereof: animal (1)	44.3	44.0	44.3	42.6	38.7	38.3	27.9
Cereals and cereal products	4.6	4.9	4.5	4.1	4.3	4.4	4.8
Potatoes and starches	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Chocolate, sweets and jam	6.0	5.8	5.2	2.2	2.0	1.8	0.8
Miscellaneous grains and nuts	8.0	7.8	8.3	9.2	7.0	5.5	5.0
Vegetables (1)	1.1	1.0	1.0	1.0	0.6	0.7	0.4
Fruit and melons (1)	3.8	4.3	4.0	3.2	2.5	2.0	1.4
Oils and fats (1)	65.8	64.4	63.4	55.3	56.3	51.5	46.3
Meat	24.7	24.4	24.6	22.9	20.7	19.3	10.3
Eggs	4.2	4.2	4.2	5.2	5.6	6.4	5.2
Fish	0.8	0.9	0.8	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.6
Milk and dairy products (1)	14.6	14.5	14.7	14.0	12.1	12.2	11.8

Table 37

Vitamins and minerals per capita per day

Milligrams, unless otherwise stated

	Commodity	Iron (Fe)	Calcium (Ca)	(Vit. C) Ascorbic acid	Niacin	Riboflavin	Thiamine (Vitamin B1)	Vitamin A Intrn. units
		1990
Total	17.1	747	145	19.0	1.45	1.68	4 417
Cereals and cereal products	6.4	65	-	4.7	0.19	0.85	-
Potatoes and starches	0.5	6	6	1.0	0.02	0 06	-
Chocolate, sweets and jam	0.4	10	-	0.1	0.02	-	3
Miscellaneous grains and nuts	1.9	104	1	1.5	0.06	0.18	24
Vegetables (1)	2.3	76	92	1.9	0.20	0.23	1 818
Fruit and melons (1)	1.4	51	44	0.9	0.12	0.12	1 038
Oils and fats (1)	-	-	-	-	-	-	162
Meat	2.6	17	-	8.1	0.18	0.12	399
Eggs	1.1	22	-	-	0.13	0.04	444
Fish	0.1	5	-	0.5	0.02	-	1
Milk and dairy products (1)	0.4	391	2	0.3	0.51	0.08	528

Table 37 (continued)

	Commodity	Iron (Fe)	Calcium (Ca)	(Vit. C) Ascorbic acid	Niacin	Riboflavin	Thiamine (Vitamin B1)	Vitamin A Intrn. units
		1990
	R1997
Total	17.8	731	169	20.5	1.50	1.78	4 213
Cereals and cereal products	7.0	71	-	5.3	0.21	0.94	-
Potatoes and starches	0.6	7	8	1.4	0.03	0.08	-
Chocolate, sweets and jam	0.7	21	1	0.1	0.03	-	7
Miscellaneous grains and nuts	1.7	62	-	1.5	0.08	0.19	23
Vegetables (1)	2.0	73	86	1.6	0.17	0.20	1 702
Fruit and melons (1)	1.6	62	72	1.0	0.14	0.13	971
Oils and fats (1)	-	0	-	-	-	-	97
Meat	2.8	20	-	8.9	0.19	0.12	475
Eggs	0.9	18	-	-	0.11	0.04	359
Fish	0.1	8	-	0.5	0.03	0.01	2
Milk and dairy products (1)	0.4	390	2	0.2	0.51	0.07	577
	1998
Total	18.9	740	175	21.1	1.56	1.90	4 684
Cereals and cereal products	7.7	78	-	5.7	0.23	1.03	-
Potatoes and starches	0.7	8	9	1.4	0.03	0.09	-
Chocolate, sweets and jam	0.9	24	1	0.2	0.03	-	7
Miscellaneous grains and nuts	1.4	56	-	0.9	0.04	0.14	17
Vegetables (1)	2.5	89	108	2.0	0.23	0.25	2 142
Fruit and melons (1)	1.4	61	55	1.1	0.14	0.14	1 026
Oils and fats (1)	-	-	-	-	-	-	96
Meat	2.8	19	-	9.0	0.20	0.13	464
Eggs	0.9	18	-	-	0.11	0.04	356
Fish	0.2	7	-	0.6	0.03	0.01	5
Milk and dairy products (1)	0.4	380	2	0.2	0.52	0.07	571
	1999
Total	18.4	734	173	20.9	1.54	1.82	4 606
Cereals and cereal products	7.3	74	-	5.4	0.21	0.96	-
Potatoes and starches	0.7	8	9	1.5	0.04	0.09	-
Chocolate, sweets and jam	0.9	24	1	0.2	0.04	0.01	7
Miscellaneous grains and nuts	1.5	59	-	1.0	0.05	0.14	23
Vegetables (1)	2.4	86	115	2.0	0.21	0.22	2 251
Fruit and melons (1)	1.3	52	46	0.9	0.14	0.14	824
Oils and fats (1)	-	-	-	-	-	-	96
Meat	2.9	19	-	9.1	0.20	0.13	469
Eggs	0.9	18	-	-	0.11	0.04	356
Fish	0.1	7	-	0.6	0.03	0.01	4
Milk and dairy products (1)	0.4	387	2	0.2	0.51	0.08	576

Table 38 Food balance sheet, 1998 ( annual quantities, tons)

Commod ity	Per capita supplies	Food (net)	Available supply
Fat grams per day	Protein grams per day	Calories (Kcal) per day	Grams per day	Kg. per year	Food (net)	Other supply and waste (1)	Total	Imports	Exports	Change of stocks	Production
Grand total	132.3	107. 1	3 616	. .	. .
Cereals and cereal products - Total	4.9	38.2	1 184
Wheat (2)	4.6	36.1	1 079	308.2	112.5	674 900	936 100	1 611 000	1 596 600	139 900	1 700	156 000
Rice (milled)	0.2	1.8	95	26.3	9.6	57 500	-	57 500	85 600	34 100	-6 00 0	-
Other cereals	0.1	0.3	10	2.8	1.0	6 000	-	6 000	4 900	-	600	1 700
Potatoes and starches - Total	0.1	2.0	91
Potatoes and potato flour	0.1	2.0	81	111.5	40.7	244 000	35 900	279 900	20 600	60 000	14 100	333 400
Cornflour	-	-	10	2.7	1.0	6 000	19 800	25 800	1 500	100	500	24 900
Sugar and honey - Total	-	-	463
Sugar	-	-	458	118.4	43.2	258 900	45 500	304 400	440 000	135 600	-	-
Honey	-	-	5	1.6	0.6	3 300	-	3 300	700	-	-100	2 500
Chocolate, sweets and jam	5.8	1.2	195	48.3	1 7.6	105 400	-	105 400	38 900	7 600	-	74 100
Miscellaneous grains and nuts - Total	7.8	5.9	132
Pulses, edible, dry	0.2	3.2	49	14.1	5.2	31 365	1 450	32 815	21 600	5 185	-7 000	9 400
Sesame, groundnuts and sunflower	3.1	1.5	36	6.9	2.5	14 540	48 610	63 150	43 100	17 300	-8 000	29 350
Nuts	4.5	1.2	47	7.7	2.8	16 900	-	16 900	11 800	300	-3 000	2 400
Vegetables (2)	1.0	5.4	120	508.2	185.5	1 112 923	73 988	1 186 911	132 139	263 807	-	1 318 579
Fruit and melons (2) - Total	4.3	2.2	195
Citrus fruit	0.1	0.6	35	122.2	44.6	267 700	4 100	271 800	7 800	624 800	-	888 800
Fresh fruit, excl. citrus (2)	4.1	1.3	140	221.0	80.6	482 500	55 200	537 700	24 600	65 600	-25 800	552 900
Watermelons and sugar melons	0.1	0.3	13	97.8	35.7	213 8 00	7 900	221 700	100	26 300	-	247 900
Dried fruit	-	-	7	2.9	1.1	6 700	-	6 700	6 500	-	-	200

Table 38 ( continued )

Commodity	Per capita supplies	Food (net)	Available supply
Fat grams per day	Protein grams per day	Calories (Kcal) per day	Grams per day	Kg. per year	Food (net)	Other supply and waste (1)	Total	Imports	Exports	Change of stocks	Production
Oils and fats (2) - Total	64.4	-	567
Vegetable oils, refined, edible	48.5	-	429	48.5	17.7	106 100	28 900	135 000	42 600	12 000	40 000	144 400
Margarine	14.1	-	122	17.0	6.2	37 300	800	38 100	4 000	700	-	34 800
Butter	1.8	-	16	2.2	0.8	4 700	3 000	7 700	200	200	500	8 200
Meat - Total	24.4	27.6	338
Beef, fresh and frozen, carcass weight	7.3	6.4	93	42.7	15.6	93 300	-	93 300	69 200	18 200	1 500	43 800
Beef, Offal and other edible parts	0.4	0.8	7	4.9	1.8	10 900	-	10 900	3 000	-	-	7 900
Sheep and goats, carcass weight	0.3	0.4	4	3.3	1.2	7 000	-	7 000	1 200	400	-	6 200
Other meat	2.0	0.5	21	5.5	2.0	12 200	-	12 200	-	-	-	12 200
Poultry (slaughtered)	14.4	19.5	213	154.5	56.4	338 100	-	338 100	-	17 700	-	355 800
Eggs	4.2	4.4	58	40.0	14.6	87 400	-	87 400	-	4 200	-4 800	86 800
Fish	0.9	4.5	27	37.0	13.5	80 100	-	80 100	38 300	300	-12 000	30 100
Milk and dairy products (2) - Total	14.5	15.7	246
Cow’s milk	4.7	5.6	101	168.5	61.5	368 891	807 929	1 176 820	-	20 300	-	1 197 120
Sheep and goats’ milk	0.5	0.5	7	9.4	3.4	20 200	13 500	33 700	-	-	-	33 700
Milk, dried	-	0.5	5	1.4	0.5	3 200	12 300	15 500	4 800	500	-100	11 100
Cheese	5.2	7.1	76	43.1	15.8	95 200	-	95 200	500	3 100	500	98 300
Sour milk, etc.	4.1	2.0	57	63.0	23.0	137 600	-	137 600	600	9 700	-	146 700

Table 39

Food balance sheet, 1999 (annual quantities, tons)

Commodity	Per capita supp lies	Food (net)	Available supply
Fat grams per day	Protein grams per day	Calories (Kcal) per day	Grams per day	Kg. per year	Food (net)	Other supply and waste (1)	Total	Imports	Exports	Change of stocks	Production
Grand total	133.7	105.3	3 543	. .	. .
Cereal and cereal products - Total	4.6	35.8	1 112
Wheat (2)	4.3	33.6	1 006	287.4	104.9	639 600	981 600	1621 200	1 628 500	137 000	-100,700	29 000
Rice (milled)	0.2	1.8	95	26.3	9.6	58 600	-	58 600	84 100	34 000	-8 500	-
Other cere als	0.1	0.4	11	3.3	1.2	7 200	-	7 200	6 200	-	800	1 800
Potatoes and starches - Total	0.1	2.1	96
Potatoes and potato flour	0.1	2.1	86	118.9	43.4	264 400	34 400	298 800	21 500	71 300	-	348 600
Cornflour	-	-	10	2.7	1.0	6 100	18 800	24 900	10 0	500	-	25 300

Table 39 ( continued )

Commodity	Per capita supplies	Food (net)	Available supply
Fat grams per day	Protein grams per day	Calories (Kcal) per day	Grams per day	Kg. per year	Food (net)	Other supply and waste (1)	Total	Imports	Exports	Chan ge of stocks	Production
Sugar and honey - Total	-	-	461
Sugar	-	-	456	117.8	43.0	262 600	53 000	315 600	450 000	134 400	-	-
Honey	-	-	5	1.6	0.6	3 900	-	3 900	800	-	-100	3 000
Chocolate, sweets and jam	6.0	1.2	202	49.4	18.0	109 900	-	109 900	38 000	6 600	-	78 500
Miscellaneous grains and nuts - Total	8.0	5.9	135
Pulses, edible, dry	0.3	3.1	50	14.2	5.2	32 180	1 770	33 950	20 500	-	-3 000	10 450
Sesame, groundnuts and sunflower	3.2	1.6	38	7.3	2.7	16 540	. .	. .	58 200	16 00 0	4 100	..
Nuts	4.5	1.2	47	7.7	2.8	17 100	-	17 100	12 800	300	-2 000	2 600
Vegetables (2)	1.1	5.5	121	511.8	186.8	1 139 326	91 359	1 230 684	114 648	212 970	-	1 329 006
Fruit and melons (2) - Total	3.8	2.1	162
Citrus fruit	0.1	0.6	31	10 6.3	38.8	236 550	3 300	239 850	8 700	492 250	-	723 400
Fresh fruit, excl. citrus (2)	3.6	1.1	113	174.4	63.7	388 940	56 800	445 740	16 740	63 000	3 900	495 900
Watermelons and sugar melons	0.1	0.4	14	106.3	38.8	236 300	8 200	244 500	200	26 600	-	270 900
Dried fruit	-	-	4	1.8	0.7	5 030	-	5 030	5 200	300	-	130
Oils and fats (2) - Total	65.8	-	579
Vegetable oils, refined, edible	49.9	-	441	49.9	18.2	110 900	27 500	138 400	46 800	15 000	45 000	151 600
Margarine	14.1	-	122	17.0	6.2	3 8 100	800	38 900	6 000	300	-	33 200
Butter	1.8	-	16	2.2	0.8	5 000	2 800	7 800	200	300	-	7 900
Meat - Total	24.7	28.1	343
Beef, fresh and frozen, carcass weight	7.5	6.6	96	44.1	16.1	98 200	-	98 200	68 400	18 200	-3 600	44 400
Beef, Off al and other edible parts	0.4	0.9	8	5.5	2.0	12 200	-	12 200	4 300	-	-	7 900
Sheep and goats, carcass weight	0.3	0.4	4	3.3	1.2	7 400	-	7 400	1 600	400	-	6 200
Other meat	2.0	0.5	21	5.5	2.0	12 200	-	12 200	-	-	-	12 200
Poultry (slaughtered)	14.5	19.7	214	155.4	56.7	346 000	-	346 000	-	17 200	-	363 200
Eggs	4.2	4.4	58	40.0	14.6	89 300	-	89 300	-	3 900	-1 400	91 800
Fish	0.8	4.4	25	36.6	13.4	81 000	-	81 000	35 400	500	-16 000	30 100
Milk and dairy products (2) - Total	14.6	15.8	249
C ow’s milk	4.7	5.6	102	169.6	61.9	377 600	799 200	1 176 800	-	17 200	-	1 194 000
Sheep and goats’ milk	0.4	0.4	7	8.5	3.1	19 000	13 500	32 500	-	-	-	32 500
Milk, dried	-	0.6	6	1.6	0.6	3 700	11 300	15 000	4 800	800	-400	10 600
Cheese	5.4	7.2	77	43 .5	15.9	97 800	-	97 800	800	3 300	-600	99 700
Sour milk, etc.	4.1	2.0	57	63.3	23.1	141 000	-	141 000	100	12 200	-	153 100

A review of the food balance sheets collected annually from 1947 to 1999 reveals an increase in per capita consumption of calories from 2,610 to 3,543 kcal/day, an increase of 36 per cent. It is of interest to note the marked increase in the consumption of fat from 343 to 579 kcal/day, an increase of 69 per cent; the increase in the consumption of vegetables from 65 to 121 kcal/day, an increase of 86 per cent; and the increase in the consumption of meat from 95 to 343 kcal/day, an increase of 260 per cent.

The household expenditure survey

The main data from the latest survey was produced above, and has shown no notable change since the initial report.

Special surveys

It is necessary to look beyond the overall per capita aggregate in order to determine how the nutritionally vulnerable groups fare. The Ministry of Health (Department of Nutrition and the Israeli Center for Disease Control) has completed the initial stage of the first National Health and Nutrition Survey (“NNS”). A random population sample was extracted to yield 4,500 Israelis, ages 25 to 64 years old. The NNS was designed to monitor food intake, nutritional habits, exercise, smoking, knowledge and attitudes regarding lifestyle, health and nutrition status of the population. This is the largest and most comprehensive nutrition survey ever carried out in Israel. The findings are used to form a basis for formulation of dietary guidelines and recommendations for Israel, and aid in identifying areas requiring development of intervention programmes, such as food fortification. The survey provides information regarding minorities and vulnerable groups, and a database for public health policy decisions, as well as health and nutrition education and promotion programmes. Additional NNS surveys are being carried out in specific population groups. In 2001, the NNS survey will concentrate on infants, children and adolescents. The potential areas of concern and the policy for Israel have remained the same since submission of the initial report.

(c)Methods of improvement of production, conservation and distribution of food

No notable changes have occurred on this issue since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

3. The right to adequate housing

(a)Housing situation in Israel

Tenure

There is little more data available beyond that which was reported in Israel’s initial report based on the Family Expenditure Survey conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics in 1992‑1993, so the data reported in the initial report is still viable.

Of the new immigrants who arrived in Israel between 1989 and 2000 from the former Soviet Union, the situation today shows an increase in the ownership rate with approximately 75 per cent of the new immigrants owning their own home. The breakdown is as follows:

Table 40

New immigrants and home ownership

Year of immigration	Ownership rate %	No. of immigrants
1989	91	24 050
1990	88	199 516
1991	81	176 100
1992	77	77 057
1993	76	76 805
1994	69	79 844
1995	63	76 362
1996	49	70 919
1997	32	66 221
1998	16	56 726

Affordability

See the breakdown in the following table:

Table 41

Selected data on housing, by deciles of net incom e per standard person, 1998

	Deciles	Total
10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
Owned dwellings
Households in sample	593	528	535	491	482	427	401	353	295	127	4 232
Households in population (thousands)	143.1	139.0	141.0	133.4	135.9	126.0	115.1	102.2	89.4	45.3	1 170.4
Average persons in household	2.8	2.9	3.2	3.3	3.6	3.6	3.8	4.5	5.4	5.8	3.7
Average standard persons in household	2.4	2.5	2.7	2.8	2.9	2.9	3.0	3.4	3.9	4.1	2.9
Average earners in household	1.5	1.4	1.5	1.4	1.3	1.2	0.9	0.8	0.7	0.4	1.2
Rooms per d welling	4.4	4.0	4.0	3.7	3.7	3.6	3.5	3.6	3.5	3.3	3.8
Rooms for living	4.4	3.9	4.0	3.7	3.6	3.6	3.5	3.6	3.5	3.2	3.8
Housing density	0.6	0.7	0.8	0.9	1.0	1.0	1.1	1.3	1.6	1.8	1.0
Percentage of owned dwelling	85.6	83.2	84.4	80.1	81.1	75.4	69.0	61.1	53.5	27.1	7 0.0
Value of owned dwelling (thousands) (1)	1 193.0	859.0	772.0	675.0	621.0	590.0	542.0	498.0	449.0	356.0	697.0
	NIS
Housing expenditure	2 654	2 374	2 285	2 176	2 165	2 070	1 955	1 921	1 899	1 769	2 178
Consumption from owned dwelling	2 436	2 225	2 2 01	2 080	2 049	1 991	1 907	1 910	1 890	1 753	2 083
Insurance of dwelling, content	120	70	49	41	29	20	11	7	4	2	41
Water, current consumption	99	93	87	91	94	74	83	86	80	98	88
Electricity, current consumption	233	201	199	187	184	164	168	174	165	165	187
Ga s, current consumption	5	9	7	9	10	12	16	20	22	28	12
Gas, central installation	16	18	19	23	18	19	20	15	18	10	18
Tenants’ committee fees	97	66	55	50	46	44	35	22	23	14	50
Municipality tax	330	251	239	227	194	180	166	153	147	145	213
Mortgage repayments	939	659	705	752	611	535	474	497	284	186	611
Other housing loans repayments	156	124	125	150	158	93	98	121	83	5	121
Rented dwellings
Households in sample	69	74	73	93	100	112	130	171	214	332	1 368
Households in population (thousands)	17.4	22.7	1 8.7	27.8	25.3	33.2	37.7	55.5	68.6	115.3	422.2
Average persons in household	2.0	2.3	2.3	2.3	2.8	2.6	2.7	2.5	3.0	3.0	2.7

Table 41 ( continued )

	Deciles	Total
10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
Average standard persons in household	2.0	2.1	2.2	2.1	2.5	2.3	2.4	2. 2	2.5	2.5	2.4
Average earners in household	1.5	1.5	1.4	1.5	1.5	1.3	1.1	0.7	0.7	0.3	0.9
Rooms per dwelling	3.7	3.2	3.1	3.0	3.1	3.0	3.0	2.9	3.1	2.7	3.0
Rooms for living	3.4	3.1	3.0	2.8	2.9	2.9	2.8	2.6	2.8	2.6	2.8
Housing density	0.6	0.7	0.8	0.8	1.0	0.9	1 .0	1.0	1.1	1.2	1.0
Percentage of rented dwelling	10.4	13.6	11.2	16.7	15.1	19.9	22.6	33.2	41.0	68.9	25.3
	NIS
Housing expenditure	2 130	2 000	1 874	1 793	1 788	1 570	1 501	1 351	1 055	739	1 312
Rent on dwelling or room	2 066	1 968	1 832	1 732	1 706	1 521	1 434	1 271	998	719	1 261
Insurance of dwelling, content	27	17	24	14	15	7	6	2	1	1	7
Water, current consumption	86	45	51	48	64	58	50	53	58	48	54
Electricity, current consumption	153	155	138	119	164	125	113	108	113	101	118
Gas, current consumption	1	3	3	4	3	6	4	6	6	6	5
Gas, central installation	13	10	10	14	16	16	16	20	19	15	16
Tenants’ committee fees	62	49	41	46	44	43	41	36	26	18	34
Municipality tax	229	236	163	162	152	141	130	82	89	68	115
Mortgage repayments	535	275	341	186	288	205	405	93	45	12	1 56
Other housing loans repayments	24	72	57	44	126	4	63	7	5	1	26

Sanitation facilities

No notable change occurred on this issue since the initial report.

Density

This is the most recent data available on housing density:

Table 42

Households, by housing density, size of household and religion, 1999

Persons per room	Persons in household
Average per household	7+	6	5	4	3	2	1	Total %	‘000
	3.18	3.9	5.4	12.8	18.4	16.1	24.6	18.7	100.0	1 456.5
Jews - total
Up to 0.49	1.18	-	-	-	..	0.9	15.0	83.9	100.0	182.4
0.5	1.58	-	-	-	..	4.9	46.0	48.6	100.0	139.7
0.51-0.99	2.73	..	0.8	5.8	15.4	25.0	47.8	5.0	100.0	418.8
1.00	3.30	..	2.4	13.8	28.5	28.7	17.1	9.3	100.0	325.3
1.01-1.49	4.61	5.2	9.1	35.2	42.6	5.4	2.5	-	100.0	213.2
1.50-1.99	5.34	16.3	28.0	33.8	7.4	14.4	-	-	100.0	105.5
2.00	5.27	15.4	39.1	7.7	23.1	3.2	10.9	0.5	100.0	40.5
2.01-2.49	7.78	87.9	12.1	-	-	-	-	-	100.0	10.8
2.50-2.99	7.48	59.2	-	30.6	10.2	-	-	-	100.0	9.9
3.00+	8.20	66.2	16.2	..	..	5.4	-	-	100.0	7.6
	4.85	21.4	14.5	15.7	16.8	14.2	10.9	6.6	100.0	239.7
Other religions - total
Up to 0.99	2.21	..	..	..	7.4	26.2	36.8	27.8	100.0	43.4
1.00	3.28	..	..	7.5	28.6	35.9	16.6	9.8	100.0	40.1
1.01-1.49	4.77	5.6	11.4	31.1	42.7	4.4	4.9	-	100.0	41.3
1.50-1.99	5.71	20.3	27.8	34.7	5.7	11.5	-	-	100.0	42.0
2.00	5.83	20.7	47.1	7.9	15.4	3.9	5.0	-	100.0	28.2
2.01-2.49	7.82	91.9	8.1	-	-	-	-	-	100.0	12.4
2.50-2.99	7.95	71.5	-	25.4	..	-	-	-	100.0	13.0
3.00+	8.51	73.1	18.3	..	..	..	-	-	100.0	18.8
		Average no. of persons per room
Jews		1.85	1.39	1.17	1.03	0.85	0.64	0.39		0.91
Other religions		2.37	1.72	1.48	1.20	0.94	0.75	0.48		1.50

Public housing eligibility

Public housing companies administer approximately 107,000 housing units (7.5 per cent of total households in Israel). The most recent official figures indicate that approximately 2,500 families are listed on waiting lists for public housing.

In 1998, the Public Housing Law (Purchase Rights), 1998, was enacted which gives public housing tenants purchasing rights. This law will enter into force at the earliest in 2001. In addition, the Government is selling public housing units to tenants within the framework of a special arrangement. According to this, the tenants may purchase their unit at a substantial discount, proportional to the number of years they have lived in the unit, provided they have lived in the unit a minimum of 12 months and that they do not have another apartment. The discount is 3 per cent of the price of the unit, per year of living in the unit, up to a 90 per cent discount on the part of the price, not amounting to more than NIS 600,000. People with disabilities receive higher discounts. The right to purchase is also given to a relative of a deceased tenant, who lived with the tenant for three years prior to his death. The income from these sales is designated for financing long-term solutions for those eligible for public housing.

Up until September 2000, several thousand such units were sold. The sale is continuing, but implementation of this programme is not as easy as expected. There are, for example, instances of disagreement between tenants and governmental housing companies regarding the assessment of the level of participation in repairs to be made before turning over the ownership to the tenant.

Homelessness

The number of “homeless” persons in Israel at the present is estimated to be approximately 2,000.

In December 2000, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs published the results of a survey it conducted on the socio-demographic characteristics of homelessness in Israel. This survey is based on a sample of 644 homeless persons approached by the social services during the year 1997. According to this survey, the vast majority of homeless persons (76.2 per cent) are new immigrants who have exhausted their various rights to assistance: 85.7 per cent of all homeless persons are males; 83.4 per cent declare themselves as Jews, 11.7 per cent - Christians and 1.1 per cent - Muslims; 62.3 per cent have secondary and postsecondary education; 77.5 per cent are 24-55 years old (the sample did not cover youngsters under the age of 18); 71.5 per cent speak the Hebrew language; 44.1 per cent have no special working skills (22.6 per cent are blue-collar workers); 59.9 per cent were diagnosed as suffering from mental disorders (29.4 per cent suffer from addiction, 23.9 per cent from mental illness). Finally, 94.7 per cent of the sample were singles with few familial ties in Israel (only 28.9 per cent reported having actual contacts with their relatives).

Most homeless persons (86.6 per cent) stay in the large cities (Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa); 63.1 per cent stayed in the streets for 1-6 months and 21.3 per cent for over one year. Most of the chronic homeless persons suffer from addiction of some kind.

About 20 per cent of the homeless persons in the survey had contacted the social services on their own initiative. All others were reached with the help of local social workers, police or other public enforcement forces, neighbours, passers-by or benevolent organizations.

This survey opens the way for further research. For example the survey found that most homeless persons were males. Is this due to the fact that the social services reach fewer women than men, or is it due to a relative sensitivity of the social safety nets to the needs of single‑mothers? Furthermore, can anything be inferred from the survey concerning youth homelessness? The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs will undoubtedly address such questions in the future.

Non-discrimination in housing

Special attention was accorded in the initial report to two particularly vulnerable sub‑groups:

New immigrants from Ethiopia

Bedouins living in illegally constructed settlements.

In addition, the relative situation of Arab Israelis continues to be a source of concern, even though important improvements in the situation can be reported.

New immigrants from Ethiopia

As of December 1999, 60,563 immigrants from Ethiopia had settled in Israel. This population group is relatively young (60 per cent are younger than 18 years old), with a large number of children in the families and a high percentage of single parent families (more than 25 per cent). By the end of 1999, the population of this group has reached 74,000 people.

Table 43

Ethiopian immigrants

	Situation in April 1996	Situation in August 2000
Families	Singles	Families	Singles
Caravan sites	450	910	165	567
Absorption Centres	250	320	857	179
Hotels	-	-	-	108
Other	-	200	-	-
Total	700	1 340	1 022	854

It should be mentioned that although there are more immigrants coming into Israel from Ethiopia (8,106 immigrants between April 1996 to August 2000), the numbers of families and singles in caravan sites are constantly decreasing. Following a governmental decision of January 1999, immigrants are no longer settled into caravan sites. The fast decline in people living in caravan sites is also due to the relatively high mortgage rate given to Ethiopian immigrants wishing to purchase a home.

Table 44

Housing loans

	Overall loan (NIS)	Amount of the loan given as a grant (NIS)
Families without children	286 000	245 000
Families with up to 3 children	351 000	310 000
Families with more than 4 children	416 000	375 000

Israeli Arabs

The following relates mainly to issues that were not dealt with in the initial report, but which were raised by the Committee.

An important decision was taken by the Government in October 2000, which was reported under article 2 in this report. This government decision is directly relevant to the issue of equal enjoyment of housing rights. As this decision is quite recent, its implementation will be reported in Israel’s next periodic report. However, the decision itself, reflects the Government’s appreciation that progress in closing the gaps between Jews and Arabs has not been advancing quickly enough in recent years.

The important new High Court decision in the case of A’dal Ka’adan (also reported under article 2), may also prove to have dramatic impact. This will also be evaluated in Israel’s next periodic report.

Regarding planning in Arab sectors, a new district plan for the northern district of Israel was deposited on 7 September 1999. Most of the suggested development is in the central sector of the Galilee, in which 41 per cent of the Jewish population of the district reside, and 82 per cent of the Arab population of the district reside. The accelerated development of this sector will increase the standard of living for both population groups, and especially the Arab population due to its more substantial weight. Furthermore, the scheme gives special consideration to the special demographic needs of the Arab population, which are higher than the Jewish population group.

New Arab settlements are not planned, because of a policy of developing the current settlements. This policy was adopted on the basis of trend analysis and interviews made with the heads of the Arab population.

Regarding the south of the country, a new district plan was approved on 23 January 2000. Among this Plan’s goals are to integrate the Bedouin population in the south. It increases the area of the Bedouin city of Rahat, and of six other Bedouin settlements.

However, the Bedouins have petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court, contending that the new district plan does not reflect their need for rural settlements. The petition is currently pending before the court.

It should be noted that in a recent survey conducted by the Government, it was found that of 74 settlements with mostly Arab population, 37 had approved local plans, with the rest in various approval or planning stages.

Illegal buildingin the Arab sector is a complex issue. The Arab population growth rate is 3 per cent per year. The number of new families that need housing is about 10,000 a year. A large part of the Arab population solve this housing problem within the confines of existing familial housing (by enlarging an existing house or adding another building in a family courtyard). Every year the pressure for adding more plots and enlarging existing settlements grows. The phenomenon of illegally constructed building is fuelled by these factors.

Illegally constructed building occurs in part on land owned by a family, which is not approved for residence. Another part of the illegal construction takes place by seizing public lands. Traditionally, Arab building of residences is done in single-story buildings, in “low‑density” construction. With time, these buildings become multi-story buildings through enlargement for descendants. The only high-density construction in the Arab sector is done in mixed Jewish-Arab communities or mostly Jewish communities. Since the size of such communities cannot increase indefinitely, and since the problem worsens each year, there is a growing need for a move toward multi-story (high-density) construction.

Regarding issues of entry and residence, it should be noted that Israel allows the entry of Palestinian spouses married to Israeli Arabs in a process of family reunification and the return of residency. Family reunification was discussed under article 10 of this periodic report.

Regarding the current residency of Palestinians in Israel, it should be pointed out that on 31 October 1999, the criteria pertaining to the loss of residency changed, following a petition to Israel’s Supreme Court, in the case of The Center for the Protection of the Individual v. The Minister of the Interior (HCJ 2227/98),which is still pending. The original criteria had determined that any resident who moves his centre of life outside of Israel for seven years would lose his residency. Under this new policy, this rule is not applied to a person who retains a “proper link” to Israel during the said period. Furthermore, people who lost their permanent residence status since 1995, may now regain it: such person who visited Israel since leaving the country and lived here for two years, will be viewed as having received a new permanent residence permit since his arrival. Whoever lost his permanent residency status without notice from the Ministry of the Interior, will be viewed as having a permanent residence permit if he or she visited Israel during the time that his or her Leaving Card is valid. These new criteria are more lenient, and were enacted to minimize the retroactive aspect of this directive, and to increase the transparency of this process.

The population in the eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem

The situation of the residents of the eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem should be seen in the proper historical, cultural and demographic background.

In the light of some 3,000 years of history, it seems most curious that the distinction between the eastern and western areas of Jerusalem is based solely on the 19-year period between 1948 and 1967, when Jerusalem was divided. During that 19-year period, eastern Jerusalem, which was a cluster of villages with a rural character, was never developed.  Since 1967, eastern Jerusalem has developed into a modern urban environment. Western Jerusalem, on the other hand, was, throughout the period a modern capital city whose neighbourhoods had developed since 1914 according to urban plans based on the city’s special topography. Thus, in 1967, at the reunification of Jerusalem, significant gaps existed between the eastern and western parts of Jerusalem.

The villages located in the eastern sector of the city developed from family settlements, and the tendency was for small parcels of land to be owned by a variety of private landlords. Land registration was not systematic and was not up-to-date. Thus legal ownership of particular tracts of land is often unclear and there are many instances of more than one claim to ownership to the same parcel of land. Urban planning is based on land ownership; re-designing and updating the registration system prior to preparation of urban plans involves extensive surveying, and this process is as yet incomplete.

As a result, there are many cases of difficulty and inability to prove legal land ownership, or of two or more persons claiming ownership of the same land. The municipality of Jerusalem has a policy of accepting affidavits regarding ownership from village Mukhtars or neighbours.

In these villages, private considerations traditionally take precedence over communal interests. Thus, projects such as road building, which the residents may want, are problematic as they involve taxation and land expropriation. In fact, residents of the eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem are not required to participate directly in the cost of developing or renewing the infrastructure of their neighbourhoods, while residents of western Jerusalem are obliged to make substantial contributions towards the costs of such projects.

In 1967, residents of the eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem used wells to obtain water. The reunification of Jerusalem necessitated the unification of all infrastructure systems. Accordingly, effective water and sewage systems have been set in place.

Natural increase in the population in the eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem has always exceeded the natural increase of the Jewish population. In 1967, the city’s population consisted of 197,000 Jews (74.2 per cent) and 68,000 Arabs (25.8 per cent). In 1999, the Jewish population of the city had grown to 429,000 (69 per cent of the population), while the Arab population had grown to 193,000 (31 per cent of the population).

The increase in the number of housing units built since 1967 corresponds to the proportions of the population – as do current plans to build 15,000 new housing units in the eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem and 35,000 in the Jewish sector.

The traditional rural building in the eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem consisted of detached homes for the extended family on privately owned land. This has proven to be very land‑consuming, in comparison with the apartment blocks which characterize Jewish neighbourhoods. In the Arab sector, there is an average of 11 people living in 1.9 housing units per dunam (approximately one quarter acre) of land, while in the Jewish sector the figure is 19 people living in 5.9 units per dunam of land.

Much of the public building in the western neighbourhoods of Jerusalem has been financed by private donations received from the Jewish diaspora, whereas the Municipality of Jerusalem and the Israeli Government finance public building in all parts of the city.

The municipality of Jerusalem has given priority to a development programme for the eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem, in coordination with the Government of Israel. The total sum required to bridge the gap is estimated at 520 million New Israeli Shekels (NIS). The Government allocated NIS 450 million for this purpose. The sum of NIS 60.1 million was allocated by the Government in 1999 especially for the development of the eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem.

Between 1997 and 1999, a number of important projects were completed in the eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem. This included the construction of roads (NIS 42 million), improvements to existing roads (NIS 40 million), water and sewage systems (NIS 40 million), community centres (NIS 10 million) and other projects (NIS 47 million) for a total of NIS 179 million.

Town plans are in the process of being prepared for all neighbourhoods of the city. Whereas, in the Jewish neighbourhoods it takes an average of three years to establish such plans, in the eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem, the historical factors outlined above cause the process to take considerably longer.

In Jerusalem the policy has been to plan development in cooperation with the residents of the eastern neighbourhoods; for example in Tsur Baher, near Har Homa, 400 units to be built on government land will be marketed by an Arab association. The area has been re-zoned to allow for more intensive construction: 75 per cent of the land may be built on, as opposed to the 50 per cent which had been originally allocated.

At A Sawaneh, a camp of homeless people had been set up on land belonging to the WAKF (Moslem Charitable Trust), where a special education school was planned. The WAKF tacitly co-operated with the municipality in evicting the residents of the camp, and gave the land to the school, which was built by the municipality.

All building plans are subject to approval by the District Planning and Building Committee. The rate of application for building permits corresponds approximately with the percentages of the population. In the first half of 1999, approximately 20 per cent of the total number of applications were received from residents of the eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem. Of the total applications for building permits which were received, approximately 60 per cent of those submitted by residents of the eastern neighbourhoods were approved and approximately 67 per cent of those submitted by residents of western Jerusalem were approved. In western Jerusalem, building infringements almost invariably consist of illegal additions built on to a legal building, such as a room in a courtyard or an attic added in a roof space. In the eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem, they typically take the form of entire buildings illegally constructed without a permit. Thus, demolitions in the eastern part of Jerusalem are far more extensive than in the western part of the city.

With respect to demolitions of illegal buildings, the policy of the municipality of Jerusalem is to issue a demolition order where the construction of such illegal buildings interfere with plans for public facilities, such as schools or roads, or with the city’s historical heritage. The Interior Ministry also has the authority to demolish illegal buildings. Throughout the past years, there has been a growing trend of illegal construction of buildings without a permit in the eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem. In 1997 the total number of these such illegal new buildings was 202; in 1998 it was 485 and in 1999 it was 554. Only a small number of demolition orders are actually carried out each year:

Table 45

Demolition orders: Figures for the period between

1 January 1999-30 June 1999

	Western neighbourhoods of Jerusalem	Eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem
Applications for administrative demolition orders	9 orders	50 orders
Administrative demolition orders carried out	4 orders	11 orders

It should be stressed that all demolitions are conducted with due process and subject to judicial review.

The Bedouin “Unrecognized Villages”

Israel’s initial report expressly recognized the problematic aspects of this issue. The following are developments that have occurred since then regarding the provision of basic utilities and planning.

Provision of basic utilities

A recent budget proposal for the years 2001-2004, based on a four-year plan for the completion of development and infrastructure in the existing Bedouin towns, requests the allocation of NIS 1,195,050,000. This is a significant sum, which is to be used to complete the infrastructure in existing settlements, to construct water and sewage infrastructure where it is incomplete and for the establishment of public facilities such as schools and clinics.

The total funds allocated to the Bedouin sector within Israel’s budget for the year 2000 have increased threefold in comparison to the period of Israel’s initial report.

Water is allocated to the Bedouin community living in illegally constructed villages through the “Water Connections Allocation Committee”. During the last three years, the total number of connections to the water main lines has increased from 60 connections to 260 connections. Except for 50,000 of the Bedouin population, all of the unrecognized villages have a connection to water services. The 50 per cent of the Bedouin population who live outside the recognized settlements are allowed to tap into the National Water Carrier system at designated sites in order to bring drinking water to their homes.

The establishment of a sewage system is under the authority of the local municipalities. The minority local municipalities receive generous loans for this purpose which exceed those allocated to Jewish local municipalities.

The Israeli Government seeks to establish six new “service centres” for the Bedouins in the Negev. When completed, these centres will contain facilities for various service providers, ranging from educational facilities, religious centres and health centres to shopping and industrial facilities. It is planned that these centres will be built outside of existing towns, with the purpose of serving as a basis for new Bedouin towns.

Since Israel’s initial report, new industry and trade centres have been built in Hura, Segev Shalom and Aroer.

Until 1996, most unrecognized villages could not be connected to electricity due to provisions of Section 157A of the Planning and Building Law. This section prohibits the connection to the electricity grid of illegally-built buildings (i.e. buildings not having received building permits or which deviated from the terms of such permits). This section was introduced to provide an effective sanction against the disregard of planning regulations. The provision, which also prohibits hook-up of water and telephones, applies equally to the entire population. However, the Knesset decided to mitigate the effect of the section on the Arab unrecognized villages, and passed a special law (The Supply of Electricity (Special Provisions) Law, 1996) allowing the connection of illegal buildings in a large number of Arab villages to the electricity grid, provided that there was no outstanding court order to demolish the building and that it was built prior to Section 157A coming into force (1987). The special law should facilitate the connection of approximately 10,000 buildings to the electricity grid. To date 4,000 buildings, mostly in unrecognized villages, have been approved for connection.

Since Israel’s initial report, five additional Health Fund medical clinics (“Kupat Holim”) were built to provide for the needs of Bedouin living outside the Bedouin towns, raising the total of such clinics to seven. This is in addition to five new Mother and child health clinics (“Tipat Halav”) have recently been built in Bedouin towns.

The infant mortality rate of Bedouin in the Negev, as a whole, is 13 per 1,000 population. Of these, 5.8 per 1,000 die of congenital malformations and inherited diseases, more than double the average national rate. This is due to a very high rate of first cousin marriages (above 45 per cent) and second cousin marriages (above 10 per cent) in this population. For the past six years, the Ministry of Health has been funding a programme aiming at reducing infant mortality, through a multiphase, multidisciplinary programme. This programme has been designed in concert with the Bedouin population to be culturally appropriate and culturally sensitive.

With regard to education, it should be emphasized that pupils in unrecognized villages are entitled to the same level of education as all other pupils in Israel. However, for obvious reasons, it is not possible to build elementary and high schools in every village, whether recognized or not. Hence, 11 per cent of the pupils of Israel (Jews and non-Jews) study in regional schools that serve rural localities. Thus, it is not uncommon that even recognized localities do not have their own local schools.

Pupils in the non-Jewish sector who reside in localities that have no recognized municipal status attend schools in recognized localities. However, there are various other logistic difficulties in providing access to schools for pupils from unrecognized villages, since schools are built in accordance with approved zoning plans to meet primarily the needs of the recognized settlements. However, in any case, transportation services to schools are provided for most pupils in unrecognized villages.

Furthermore, the special situation of pupils from unrecognized villages is given consideration by the education authorities. The education system allocates extra resources (primarily study hours) to schools whose pupils suffer from environmentally caused academic deficiencies. A special index is used to determine the eligibility of schools to receive such additional resources and one of the criteria of this index in the non-Jewish sector is the inclusion of pupils from unrecognized villages. In other words, the higher the percentage of pupils who come from families that reside in unrecognized villages, the more resources are allocated to the school. Thus, schools with pupils from unrecognized villages receive additional teaching hours which enables them to deal with the specific problems of this population (most notably, poor domestic complementary studying conditions).

All the Bedouin pupils study in 53 primary schools and 10 secondary schools. In the unrecognized settlements there are 15 primary schools and 80 kindergartens for children from the age of three.

The education system in the Bedouin sector faces many difficulties that are partially the result of the unique Bedouin style of life in a plethora of unplanned settlements as well as their culture. (For a more detailed discussion, please refer to paragraph 6 (f) under the discussion of article 13.)

Regarding the right to plant, the Government is not aware of any policy which denies landowners the right to plant fruits and vegetables. It may be the case that such restrictions are imposed on illegal occupiers of land.

Planning

A few preliminary points should be noted: there have been no expropriations of Bedouin land since 1989, aside from expropriation for the purpose of roads or railroad construction. The last expropriation, which occurred in 1989, was done for the purpose of building a new Bedouin town.

The information received by the Committee regarding ownership claims on Bedouin lands,is inaccurate. The Land Settlements Department was not established to address Bedouin land claims, but was established by the British Mandatory Government during the 1930s to deal with various land claims in the absence of legally-registered rights in mandatory Palestine. Since then, the department has addressed title claims involving all sectors of the population in Israel, including inter alia Bedouins claims. Legal title must be proven before the department in accordance with the rules laid down by law, and the department has little, if any, discretion on the matter. It can neither grant title where none has been proven, nor revoke title where it has been established.

The department deals with Bedouin land claims in the same manner in which all such claims are treated. Near the end of 1998, Bedouins claiming a total of 730,000 dunams presented 3,274 such claims. The Land Rights Settlement Ordinance [New Version], 1969, authorizes the department to admit land claims if proof of registered ownership or uninterrupted possession is provided. However, in many cases Bedouin claims are not supported by proper documentation establishing ownership; furthermore, Bedouin land title claims are often exorbitant, and cover huge areas of land through which they have moved over the years, without maintaining continuous possession. Thus, most claims do not satisfy the legal requirements provided in the law.

Nevertheless, in an attempt to come up with pragmatic solutions, the Government has decided to approve financial settlement with the Bedouins. In 168 cases, a settlement has been reached, and in 527 other cases the Government has expropriated the land in question and is negotiating a financial settlement (to date, compensation has already been paid for 46,000 dunams of the 75,000 taken). The department is negotiating a settlement to the remaining 2,500 land claims raised by the Bedouins, covering an area of 550,000 dunams.

Finally, hardly any of the illegally constructed Bedouin houses in the Negev have been demolished within the last two years. According to recent estimates, there are currently over 60,000 illegal houses in the Negev.

Planning - the Bedouin Sector in the North

In 1998, the Government decided to embark upon a five-year programme to develop the Bedouin settlements in the North. The budget for this programme should be NIS 615 million (approximately $154 million), from 1999 to 2003. This programme encompasses many subjects, including developing new neighbourhoods, building public institutions, building roads, sewage, industrial areas, improving the education system, building social services institutions and more. This programme has been in progress since 1999, although it has not been fully implemented in every area, because of administration problems.

The following table provides information concerning several prior decisions to give a legal municipal status to several “unrecognised villages”. These villages are currently in different stages of the process for approving the plans. Settlements with approved plans may go forward with infrastructure plans (electricity, water, sewage and communication). These settlements are:

Table 46

Settlements with approved plans

	North District	Haifa District
Plans in planning stages	1. Sawaid Hamira 2. Arab El-Naim
Plans in approval stages	1. Hussnia 2. Ras El-Ein	1. Ein Hod
Plans approved	1. Dmeira 2. Kamane	1. Hawaled 2. El Arian

As can be seen in the above table, the village of Arab El-Naim will be recognized after its plans are completed and approved. Ein Hod’s building plans are completed and await approval (both these settlements were of special concern to the Committee).

Planning - the Bedouin sector in the South

There are now, according to estimates, more than 120,000 Bedouins living in the Negev desert area, in the South of Israel, with a yearly population growth rate of about 5.8 per cent.

In 1999, the Government decided on the establishment of up to five new Bedouin towns. Under a special new arrangement made for the compensation of Bedouins moving into towns or recognized villages, Bedouins shall not be charged for the land in the new village. Moreover, they shall receive significant compensation for any property they abandoned at the illegal settlement.

A new proposal seeks to establish four additional Bedouin settlements: two villages, a suburban town and an agricultural village. In addition, two new neighbourhoods are to be built in existing towns.

The aforementioned decisions gained the support of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and the General Health Fund. Each of these will be responsible for the establishment of its institutions in the new settlements, in order to provide for the establishment of an infrastructure of schools and health clinics.

On 21 August 2000, the Government decided to embark upon a new policy regarding the Bedouin population in the South. The purpose of this programme is to close the social and economic gaps, which exist between this population group and the rest of the population.

The Government’s new programme includes the building of new settlements for the Bedouin sector. An attempt will be made to meet the requirements of the Bedouin population for additional land. However, ownership of land will no longer be a precondition for supplying services. New settlements have already been decided upon, and will include Mareit (Darajat), Beit-Pelet and Beit-Hil. Regarding these new settlements, plans have already been presented to the planning institutions for approval. The new settlements of Hawashla, UmBetin, Tarabin Al‑Sana and Molada are still in the planning stage.

Table 47

Planning situation in the South

	South District
Plans in planning stages	Hawashla, UmBetin, Tarabin Al‑Sana and Molada
Plans in approval stages	Tarabin Al-Sana Beit Pelet, Mareit and Be’er Hail Kochle
Plans approved	-

The Jahalin Bedouins

Of particular concern is the situation of the Jahalin Bedouin families. This is a nomad Bedouin tribe, which has never had a permanent residence. After the city of Ma’ale Edomim was built, the Jahalin took up residence near the city, on land which had already been purchased by other people.

The Jahalin filed a petition with Israel’s Supreme Court, which rejected their claim to the land. The court determined that the Jahalin came to that site only after the city had been built.

The Government then sought to move the Jahalin families to another site approximately one kilometre from the previous site. The new site is located near a main road and is near a Palestinian settlement, which can provide them with civic services.

Each family was given a plot of land, registered in its name. The Government conducted a land development project, which included connecting the site with the electrical power grid and laying down water lines. The plans were approved, and it was decided not to collect the usual taxes and fees that each resident would have had to pay with the development plan. Despite the fact that the Jahalin families resided in tents, which they retained, they were also given steel containers in which they can put their belongings. They are also encouraged to build permanent housing. The Government also gave each family that voluntarily moved, a sum of money to assist it during the interim period. These arrangements were agreed upon in the context of a settlement reached following a second petition by the Jahalin families to the Supreme Court. These arrangements were given force on 7 February 1999.

As a result of the above efforts, the living conditions of the Jahalin families have improved since their move to the new site.

(b)Overview of current housing assistance programmes

The Ministry of Construction and Housing now has a budget of NIS 10.7 billion (approximately $2.7 billion). There have been no notable changes in the Ministry’s programmes since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Supply-side policies

No notable changes have occurred on this issue since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Demand -side assistance

No notable changes have occurred on this issue since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Mortgage assistance

Single-parent families: as reported in Israel’s initial report, the level of assistance to this group is relatively higher then for most other non-homeowners. The following table illustrates the form and level of mortgage assistance for this group:

Table 48

Assistance for single-parent families (in NIS)

Years as single-parent	Mortgage rate	Portion which is a conditional grant	Initial monthly payment	Addition mortgage for each month of military service	Part of which is a conditional grant
3-5	168 000	46 200	614	1 680	462
Over 5	190 000	52 200	693	1 900	522

Singles over the age of 30 are now entitled to assistance for mortgages only for the purchase of housing, while the other age groups remain the same as reported in Israel’s initial report.

For the elderly, no notable changes have occurred on this issue since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Regarding immigrants, no notable changes have occurred on this issue since the submission of Israel’s initial report. As reported in Israel’s initial report concerning new immigrants from Ethiopia, in light of their rather unique situation, there are special criteria that further raise the level of mortgages (see above).

No notable changes have occurred on the issue of substitution or enlargement of residence since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Rent supplements

Provisional data for the year 2000 show that rent supplements were made available to more than 168,500 households each month. Of these households, almost 134,600 were new immigrants; 15,000 were young couples with the requisite number of points; 8,300 were single‑parent households; and 2,800 were elderly households, other than those included in immigrant families.

Public housing - placement in publicly-owned buildings with a subsidized rent

No notable changes have occurred on this issue since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Special assistance of the Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs

Temporary relief in a cute housing crisis

No notable changes have occurred on this issue since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Special assistance to homeless

No notable changes have occurred on this issue since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

(c) The legal framework of housing assistance

No notable changes have occurred on this issue since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

4. Government policy to combat poverty in Israel - recent trends and developments

This topic is also dealt with in this second periodic report under article 9 (last paragraphs). It is also mentioned at the beginning of this present article, in connection with the tables on GDP and GNP.

During the years 1995-1999, there was a five-year programme of development in the Druze and Circassian sectors. This programme included a budget of NIS 1,070 million (approximately $250 million), which targeted different objectives, such as sewage, water, roads, electricity, health, housing and others.

On 30 January 2000, the Government decided to embark on a programme for the year 2000. This programme gave assistance to 11 local authorities with high rates of unemployment and continuing difficult social-economic conditions. This programme focuses on public utilities, public institutions, and infrastructure. Among those local authorities are three

which contain mixed Jewish and Arab populations: Lod, Ramla and Acre (which were also mentioned in the Committee’s concluding observations on Israel’s initial report). In addition, there is also a large Bedouin village included in this programme – Tel Sheva.

Article 12: The right to the highest attainable standard of health

Israel’s last report to the World Health Organization was submitted in 2000 and covers data up to 1998.

For further details, please refer to Israel’s “Selected Health For All Indicators” Report, submitted to the WHO in 2000 (provided in annex VI to the present report).*

The population in Israel is still relatively young as reported in Israel’s initial report. Life expectancy now is slightly higher than reported in the initial report. Life expectancy at birth in Israel was 78.4 years in 1996, close to the average in the European Union. Male life expectancy was 76.3 years in 1996 and 76.1 years in 1998, the third highest among a reference group of 20 European countries. In marked contrast, female life expectancy was 79.9 years in 1996 and 80.3 in 1998. These figures are below the EU average of 81.0 in 1996. The difference in life expectancy in Israel between men and women is the smallest of the 20 reference countries in 1998. The same situation existed in 1994 when life expectancy for men was 75.5 years and for women 79.5 years, as reported in Israel’s initial report.

The mortality pattern shown by the life expectancy figures, in which male mortality is among the lowest in the reference countries, while that of women is among the highest, also appears in all main causes of death.

The Standardized Death Rate (SDR) for cardiovascular diseases in the 0-64 age group was close to the EU average in 1997 - 9.97 in Israel; 9.94 in EU. The SDRs for ischaemic heart disease were the fifth highest of the reference countries for women but the eighth lowest for men. The SDRs for cerebrovascular disease in the 0-64 age group is above the EU average for women and below the average for men. In both these diseases, both male and female SDRs fell sharply from 1982 to 1992.

Nation-wide health promotion programmes have gained momentum during the last few years, especially those emphasizing physical activity. The percentage of smokers in 1990 among people aged 20-plus was 35 per cent. In 2000, the percentage of smokers among people aged 20‑plus was 30 per cent (among Jews, 36 per cent of males and 27 per cent of females; among non-Jews, 53 per cent of males and 10 per cent of females). Smoking is restricted in public areas and in the workplace. Alcohol consumption in 1993 was lowest of all reference countries.

Health expenditure as a percentage of the GDP was 8.7 per cent in 1998.

National Health Policy: The National Health Insurance Law - 1994

The National Health Insurance Law has greatly improved the universality and equality of health-care services provided to the Israeli population as a whole, and for the Bedouin population in particular. Every Bedouin resident now enjoys comprehensive health insurance (before the passage of the law, 40 per cent had no health insurance). The National Health Insurance Law has encouraged the health providers to build more clinics in the Bedouin population centres, both in established settlements and outside of established settlements. The health tax which funds the National Health Insurance is a progressive tax, tied to income and not to the amount of required health services. Over and above the improvements noted above, additional funds have been allocated for the financing of construction and operation of additional Mother and Child health care centres in the unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev. Similarly, the need for additional medical clinics (for medical care given pursuant to the National Health Insurance Law) has been surveyed and steps have been taken to insure the construction and operation of additional clinics.

The Committee’s statements in its concluding observations regarding the changes in the National Health Insurance Law (as amended by the Arrangements Law for the year 1998) is partially inaccurate. There is no periodic health tax linked to the amount of health services needed, but a requirement for a minimal co-payment for certain services, in a manner designed to minimize the impact on the weaker socio-economic groups.

At the inception of the National Health Insurance Law in 1995, residents were required by the health-care services providers (four in number) to make co-payments for medications. One health care service provider also required co-payments for visits to medical specialists. In 1998, the other three providers were authorized to require co-payments in various minimal amounts for visits to specialists and certain outpatient clinics. The co-payments are permitted once per calendar quarter per specialist visited, subject to a quarterly maximum payment per individual and a maximum payment per family, regardless of the number of family members for which the family head is responsible.

The change in the National Health Insurance Law was made in order to allow greater financial flexibility for the health-care providers, as an incentive to reduce unnecessary use of medical services, and to reduce the budget deficits of the health-care providers. In order to avoid harming the weakest socio-economic groups and to minimize the impact on others, the co‑payment requirement is subject to the following limitations:

Residents receiving supplemental income payments pursuant to the National Insurance Law are exempt;

Residents receiving support payments pursuant to the Maintenance (Assurance of Payment) Law are exempt;

Residents receiving invalidity or disability payments pursuant to the National Insurance Law are exempt;

Residents who have AIDS, cancer, dialysis or other specified illnesses, are partially exempt;

There is no co-payment requirement for visits to primary care physicians, pediatricians, gynaecologists or internal medicine specialists.

In addition to the exemptions specified above, the Ministry of Health periodically reviews the impact of the co-payment requirement to determine if other changes are warranted.

Additionally, it must be noted that the “basket of services” provided to insured persons, pursuant to the National Health Insurance Law, is reviewed at least annually and medical technologies and procedures as well as new medications are periodically added.

Health indicators of the World Health Organization

The trend in the infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births has been as follows:

Table 49: Infant mortality 1989-1998

Year	Total	Jews	Non-Jews
1989	10.1	8.2	14.7
1990	9.9	7.9	14.9
1991	9.2	7.2	14.2
1992	9.4	7.5	14.3
1993	7.8	5.7	12.8
1994	7.5	5.7	11.5
1995	6.8	5.6	9.6
1996	6.3	5.0	9.3
1997	6.4	5.0	9.4
1998	5.9	4.7	8.5
1999	5.8	4.5	8.4

A large part of the fall in infant mortality is due to the fall in mortality from infectious diseases and pneumonia. Death from congenital disorders is also showing a downward trend. In every population group, the higher the mother’s educational level, the lower the infant mortality rates. Mothers in the age groups “less than 20” and “35-plus” show a higher infant mortality rate than mothers in the 20-30 age group.

Table 50

Infant mortality (rate per 1,000 live births) by religion and

age of neonate at death - 1993-1996

	Total	Early neonatal mortality 0-6 days	Late neonatal mortality 7-27 days	Post-neonatal mortality 28-365 days
	Rate	Per cent	Rate	Per cent	Rate	Per cent	Rate	Per cent
Total	7.1	100	3.3	46.7	1.2	16.9	2.6	36.4
Jews	5.5	100	2.9	52.4	1.0	18.9	1.6	28.7
Other religions	10.8	100	4.3	39.9	1.6	14.4	4.9	45.7

From 1990 to 1994, almost half the deaths of neonates occurred in the first six days of life, this proportion being much lower among non-Jews than among Jews (39.9 per cent v. 52.4 per cent). The disparity in post-neonatal death rates (28-265 days) between Jews and non-Jews is particularly wide (4.9 v. 6.3) and so is the disparity in the percentage of post‑neonatal deaths in total infant mortality (28.7 per cent v. 45.7 per cent). The reason for the relatively high rates of mortality in the post neonatal period among non-Jews is usually associated with congenitive malformation and socio-economic factors, and is to a considerable extent preventable (programmes for dealing with this problem are detailed below in the section titled: “Vulnerable Groups”).

It should be noted that among Jewish, Christian and Druze newborns, infant mortality rate fell to 7.5 deaths for every 1,000 live births, as intended in the Ministry of Health’s objectives for the year 2000, which had been set in 1989. Among the Muslim population, despite the continuing decrease in child mortality rate, the aforementioned objectives are yet to be achieved.

Table 51

Infant mortality (rate per 1,000 live births) in 24 countries 1983-1996

Country	1983	1993	1996
Turkey	82.9	49.3	42.2
Portugal	19.3	8.7	6.9
Greece	14.6	8.5	7.3
United States	11.2	8.3
Belgium	10.4	8.0
Israel	13.5	7.8	6.32
- Jews	11.4	5.7	5
- Non-Jews	22.7	13.2	9.3
Spain	10.9	6.7	5.5
Italy	12.1	7.1	6.2
New Zealand	12.5	7.3
Canada	8.5	6.3

Table 51 ( continued )

Country	1983	1993	1996
Austria	11.9	6.5	5.1
France	9.1	6.5	4.8
Netherlands	8.4	6.3	5.8
Australia	9.6	6.1
Ireland	10.2	6.1	6.0
Germany	10.2	5.8	5.0
Switzerland	7.6	5.6
Denmark	7.7	5.4	5.6
Norway	7.9	5.1
Iceland	6.2	4.8
Sweden	7.0	4.8	3.8
Finland	6.1	4.4	3.9
United Kingdom	10.2	6.6	6.1
Japan	6.2	4.5

No major change occurred in water supply and sewage since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Table 52

Immunization: percentage of children immunized

Vaccine	DTP 4 doses	EIPV 3 doses	OPV 3 doses	MMR 1 dose	HBV-3	HIB3
1993 Total Jews Non- Jews	92 91 94	93 92 95	93 92 95	95 94 96
1994 Total Jews Non- Jews	91 90 93	92 91 94	92 91 93	94 93 97
1995 Total Jews Non- Jews	94 93 98	95 94 99	95 94 98	95 94 98	93 92 96
1996 Total Jews Non- Jews	93 91 96	93 91 96	92 91 96	94 93 98	96 96 96	92 91 95
1997 Total Jews Non- Jews	92 92 93	92 91 94	92 91 94	94 93 96	97 97 97	92 91 95

Table 52 ( continued )

Vaccine	DTP 4 doses	EIPV 3 doses	OPV 3 doses	MMR 1 dose	HBV-3	HIB3
1998 Total Jews Non- Jews	93 91 94	92 91 95	92 91 94	94 93 97	97 97 97	94 93 96

DTP=diphtheria tetanus pertussis

EIPV=enhanced injectable polio vaccine

OPV=oral polio vaccine

MMR=measles mumps rubella

HBV3=hepatitis B vaccine

HIB=haemophilias influenza type B

Life expectancy data are as follows:

Table 53

Life expectancy by sex and religion

Year of birth	Other religions	Jews	Total population
Females	Males	Females	Males	Females	Males
1930-1932	..	..	62.7	59.9	..	..
1933-1935	..	..	61.8	59.5	..	..
1936-1938	..	..	64.5	60.8	..	..
1939-1941	..	..	64.6	62.3	..	..
1942-1944	..	..	65.9	64.1	..	..
1949	..	..	67.6	64.9	..	..
1950-1954	..	..	70.1	67.2	..	..
1955-1959	..	..	71.8	69.0	..	..
1960-1964	..	..	73.1	70.6	..	..
1965-1969	..	..	73.4	70.2	..	..
1970-1974	71.9	68.5	73.8	70.6	73.4	70.1
1975-1979	72.0	69.2	75.3	71.7	74.7	71.2
1975	71.5	68.2	74.5	70.9	73.9	70.3
1976	72.4	69.6	75.4	71.6	74.8	71.2
1977	71.3	68.5	75.4	71.9	74.7	71.3
1978	72.0	69.1	75.6	71.9	75.0	71.5
1979	73.1	70.0	75.8	72.3	75.3	71.8
1980-1984	74.0	70.8	76.5	73.1	76.1	72.7
1980	73.4	70.0	76.2	72.5	75.7	72.1
1981	74.2	70.6	76.3	73.1	75.9	72.7
1982	73.3	70.8	76.2	72.8	75.8	72.5
1983	74.1	71.2	76.6	73.2	76.2	72.8

Table 53 ( continued )

Year of birth	Other religions	Jews	Total population
Females	Males	Females	Males	Females	Males
1984	74.2	71.5	77.1	73.5	76.6	73.1
1985-1989	75.5	72.7	77.8	74.1	77.4	73.8
1985	75.8	72.0	77.3	73.9	77.0	73.5
1986	75.0	72.2	77.1	73.5	76.8	73.2
1987	75.8	73.2	77.7	73.9	77.0	73.6
1988	75.1	72.4	78.0	74.2	77.5	73.9
1989	75.5	73.1	78.5	74.9	78.1	74.6
1990-1994	76.3	73.5	79.2	75.5	78.8	75.1
1990	75.9	73.3	78.9	75.3	78.4	74.9
1991	75.7	74.2	79.0	75.4	78.5	75.1
1992	75.5	72.4	78.9	75.2	78.4	74.7
1993	76.9	73.6	79.5	75.7	79.1	75.3
1994	77.1	73.8	79.7	75.9	79.4	75.5
1995	77.3	73.8	79.8	75.9	79.5	75.5
1996	77.7	74.9	80.3	76.6	79.9	76.3
1997	77.3	73.9	80.5	76.4	80.1	75.9
1998	77.7	74.3	80.7	76.5	80.3	76.1

Access to trained personnel

There has been no change in access to trained personnel since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Environmental control

There has been no change on this issue since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Preventive care

Under paragraph 15 of the Public Health Ordinance, 1940, the Director General of the Ministry of Health or the District Health Officer has the power to require any person infected with an infectious disease to be placed in a hospital for infectious diseases or other appropriate form of isolation, should his or her current accommodation not permit taking the precautions necessary to contain the spread of the disease. Currently, this authority is used only in cases of tuberculosis and then only pursuant to court order.

Vulnerable groups

The effects of the Health Insurance Law on vulnerable groups are clearly apparent. Since the enactment of this law, the health funds have rapidly improved their services, especially within Arab communities, in order to raise their number of members and accordingly their funding (which the law sets pursuant a per capita formula).

Since 1993, the Ministry of Health has spent NIS 47 million (approximately US$ 11.4 million) in building 103 new mother and child health clinics in Arab towns and villages (8 of them are public dental clinics). The Ministry’s budgets during the same period also included NIS 54.5 million (approximately $13.5 million) aimed at “closing the gaps within the Arab sector” in the field of preventive care.

The sums mentioned above are in addition to the “regular budget” of preventive care services supplied to the population as a whole, including the Arab sector.

The Ministry of Health is working intensively to reduce the Israeli Arab infant mortality rate, which is higher than among Jewish Israelis. The infant mortality rate is indeed a product of socio-economic conditions. An important reason for the gap between Jews and non-Jews in this indicator, is the very high rate of marriage between close relatives among Muslim Arabs (about 40 per cent), as compared to the rate for Jews. Therefore, the rate of congenital defects in Arab neonates is very high. Additionally, due to religious attitudes, many of the pregnant women among Muslim Arabs refuse to terminate pregnancies when congenital malformation is diagnosed before birth.

One aim of the Ministry of Health’s education/information project is to discourage marriage among close relatives; another attempts to encourage pregnant women to make more use of in‑utero diagnostic procedures; and a third objective is to encourage mothers to make more use of the mother and child care services dispersed throughout the country. One cannot measure the short-term results of such projects. More time is required before measurable results can be expected. A new project of pre-conceptional intervention aimed at reducing congenital malformations has been launched and 60 per cent of the targeted population is in the Muslim Arab population. Despite the above, infant mortality in the Muslim Arab sector has declined each year and is the lowest in the entire Muslim world.

All of the recognized and unrecognized Bedouin villages have connections to running water, except for the 50,000 Bedouins that are mentioned in Israel’s initial report. These Bedouins receive water through standpipes, from which it is carried by vehicle, camel or on foot to the family home. The establishment of a sewage system is under the authority of the local government and the minority localities receive loans for this purpose which are more generous than those allocated to Jewish localities.

The infant mortality rate of Negev Bedouin is 13 per 1,000. Of this rate, 5.8 per 1,000 die of congenital malformations and inherited diseases, more than double the rate of infant deaths from this cause nationally (2.5 per 1,000). This unusually high rate is due to the very high rate of first cousin marriages (above 45 per cent) and second cousin marriages (above 10 per cent) in this population. The Ministry of Health has been funding a programme for the past six years whose aim is to try to reduce infant mortality due to intermarriage, through a multi-phase, multi‑disciplinary programme that has been designed together with the Bedouin population to be culturally appropriate and culturally sensitive.

It should be noted that the infant mortality rate for Bedouin in the Negev is lower than the infant mortality rate of Arab populations in neighbouring countries.

Fifty per cent of Bedouin live in established settlements, in modern towns with municipal infrastructure, including running water in every home (that meets the Israeli standards for drinking water quality), electricity and sanitation services, as well as all the usual municipal services, such as local health clinics for curative as well as preventive maternal and child health care and educational services. The 50 per cent of Bedouin who live outside of established settlements are allowed to tap into the National Water Carrier system at designated sites in order to obtain drinking water that meets national standards, as stated above.

Five new Mother and Child Health Clinics (“Tipat Halav”) have recently been built in Bedouin towns. Since the submission of Israel’s initial report, five additional Health Fund medical clinics (“Kupat Holim”) were built to provide for the needs of Bedouins outside the Bedouin towns, raising the total of such clinics to seven.

Other changes in the situation of the Bedouin population were referred to above in the section on housing (discussion of article 11).

Community participation

No notable change occurred on this issue since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Health education

Coordinators from the Ethiopian community make contact with all HIV patients and carriers in their local communities. They help them communicate with professionals at the local AIDS treatment centre and educate them in ways to avoid spreading the disease, principally by teaching safe sex. Mobile medical teams set up clinics in mobile home sites populated by the Ethiopian community. Transportation to AIDS centres is paid for. Social workers help the patients with their psycho-social problems related to their illness.

Health education projects are being conducted by Ethiopian health educators in absorption centres, schools, the army and in higher educational institutions. Community theatre and video films are used during these workshops. Dramas concerning AIDS prevention are broadcast in Amharic-language radio and television programmes. It must be noted that for the most part, immigrants from Ethiopia come from the lowest socio-economic strata of a country that is ranked among the least developed countries in the world.

Article 13: The right to education

1. The legal framework

The Compulsory Education Law, 1949, which was referred to in Israel’s initial report, is being gradually applied to children ages 3-4 in certain areas in need. Thus the law applied in the year 2000 to 56,000 children of ages 3-4. As before, this education is to be provided free of charge.

As mentioned in the initial report, in 1990, the Knesset enacted the Long School Day Law. This law was repealed and replaced in 1997 by the Long School Day and Enrichment Studies Law, 1997. The purpose of this law is to add study and education hours to the existing hours in educational institutions. The Minister of Education may, with the approval of the Education and Culture Committee of the Knesset, prescribe a different number of study hours for the Long School Day in certain educational institutions or study classes, provided that the number of weekly study hours shall not be less than 41 hours. For budgetary reasons, there is a gradual implementation of this law, starting with the 1997/98 school year, according to priorities set by the Minister.

In 2000, the total number of children enrolled in the education system under the supervision of the Ministry of Education reached about 1,500,000 - from the pre-primary level to the end of secondary school. Other eligible pupils attend schools supervised by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Combined with the above figures, it is estimated that nearly 100 per cent of the children in the primary school age group attend school, as well as about 95 per cent of the adolescents eligible for secondary education.

The constitutional status of the right to education

No notable changes have occurred on this issue since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

2. Structure of the education system

No notable changes have occurred in this structure since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

(a)Pre-primary education

In 2000, the kindergarten system involved 270,000 children, ranging from age 2 to 6 years, attending public institutions (not including municipal and private institutions).

(b)Primary and secondary education

The 1968 reform is still being implemented slowly, and in 1999 - 26 per cent of the pupils were still attending schools according to the old system. There has been a decrease in these figures since 1996, as this is a new measuring system involving actual data and not an estimate.

(c)Higher education

As mentioned in Israel’s initial report, university tuition is determined in accordance with the decision of a public committee, once every five years. At present the average undergraduate tuition fees is about NIS 10,500 (approximately US$ 2,600) per annum. A public committee is currently discussing tuition fees and assistance to students for the next five years (2002‑2006) with the aim of alleviating the financial burden on students.

(d)Adult education

The number of persons with only four years or less of formal education has continued to decline, and there has been an improvement in the situation in all sectors. Among the non‑Jewish population, the number of such persons decreased from 15.9 per cent in 1994 to 12.5 per cent in 1998, while among the Jewish population, the numbers fell to 4 per cent.

(e)Organizational difficulties in realizing the right to education

There has been no notable change in the policy of the Ministry of Education to make every effort to prevent youth from dropping out and to raise the percentage of those attending school (more information on this issue is provided below).

3. Statistical data

(a)Literacy

The following tables introduce the figures pertaining to the extent of formal education possessed by the adult population of Israel throughout the years 1961‑1998. It divides the population by Jews and non‑Jews, sex, age and country of origin. According to this data, in 1998, 5 per cent of the total Israeli population had only 0‑4 years of formal primary education.

Table 54

Persons aged 15 and over, by religion, years of schooling, age and sex, 1999

Year	Years of schooling	Total
Median	16+	13-15	11-12	9-10	5-8	1-4	0	%	Thousands
Jews
1961	8.4	3.6	6.3		34.6	35.4	20.1		100.0	1 300.9
1970	9.3	4.9	8.1		39.7	31.7	15.6		100.0	1 809.6
1975	10.3	7.0	10.7	26.1	18.8	25.5	11.9		100.0	2 708.2
1980	11.1	8.5	12.3	30.4	17.2	21.3	10.3		100.0	2 315.8
1985	11.5	10.2	14.2	33.6	16.6	17.3	8.1		100.0	2 511.3
1990	11.9	12.2	16.0	38.0	13.5	13.7	6.6		100.0	2 699.3
1995	12.2	15.5	20.5	37.0	12.0	10.1	5.0		100.0	3 269.3
1997	12.4	16.6	21.6	36.9	11.2	9.3	1.5	2.8	100.0	3 433.1
1998	12.4	17.0	22.0	36.6	11.3	9.1	1.4	2.6	100.0	3 511.2
1999 ‑ Total
- thousands		630.9	823.7	1 304.6	398.9	298.9	49.8	89.7		3 616.2
‑ %	12.5	17.5	22.9	36.3	11.1	8.3	1.4	2.5	100.0

Table 54 ( continued )
Year	Years of schooling	Total
Median	16+	13-15	11-12	9-10	5-8	1-4	0	%	Thousands
Age
15‑17	11.1	‑	0.4	51.5	45.5	2.3	0.1	‑	100.0	251.4
18‑24	12.4	3.6	28.8	61.7	4.2	1.3	0.2	0.2	100.0	577.5
25‑34	13.3	25.9	28.9	37.3	5.5	1.7	0.2	0.5	100.0	677.6
35‑44	13.1	24.9	26.1	34.1	9.7	4.2	0.2	0.7	100.0	606.5
45‑54	13.0	25.6	24.2	28.7	10.7	9.2	0.5	1.0	100.0	591.3
55‑64	12.3	20.2	21.5	23.4	10.7	16.0	2.9	5.0	100.0	352.5
65+	10.7	11.4	15.6	20.0	11.7	25.1	5.8	10.2	100.0	559.0
Men ‑ Total	12.5	18.5	21.2	37.6	11.9	8.1	1.2	1.5	100.0	1 744.3
15‑17	11.0	‑	0.5	49.7	46.4	3.1	0.2	‑	100.0	130.2
18‑24	12.3	3.2	24.1	64.8	5.7	1.7	0.1	0.2	100.0	294.4
25‑34	13.1	24.4	28.0	37.5	7.1	2.3	0.2	0.4	100.0	338.7
35‑44	13.0	25.1	24.2	34.1	10.8	4.7	0.3	0.7	100.0	292.4
45‑54	13.0	27.7	22.1	28.4	11.1	9.2	0.5	0.8	100.0	285.7
55‑64	12.5	25.0	19.2	24.4	10.8	16.0	1.8	2.7	100.0	164.5
65+	11.2	15.6	15.4	21.2	10.6	24.7	5.9	6.4	100.0	238.1
Women ‑ Total	12.5	16.6	24.5	35.1	10.3	8.5	1.6	3.4	100.0	1 871.9
15‑17	11.2	‑	0.3	53.4	44.5	1.4	0	‑	100.0	121.2
18‑24	12.6	4.0	33.6	58.4	2.6	0.8	0.2	0.3	100.0	283.0
25‑34	13.4	27.4	29.7	37.1	3.8	1.1	0.1	0.6	100.0	338.9
35‑44	13.2	24.7	27.8	34.1	8.6	3.7	0.2	0.7	100.0	314.0
45‑54	13.0	23.7	26.1	28.9	10.2	9.2	0.5	1.2	100.0	305.6
55‑64	12.1	16.0	23.6	22.6	10.5	16.1	3.9	7.1	100.0	187.9
65+	9.9	8.3	15.7	19.1	12.6	25.3	5.8	13.1	100.0	320.9
Other religions
1961	1.2	1.5			7.6	27.5	63.4		100.0	136.3
1970	5.0	(0.4)		1.7	13.0	35.1	49.8		100.0	223.2
1975	6.5	1.4	3.1	9.1	12.6	38.0	35.8		100.0	279.8
1980	7.5	2.2	5.5	13.5	16.0	33.9	28.9		100.0	344.5
1985	8.6	2.5	5.9	19.2	19.3	32.0	21.1		100.0	428.2
1990	9.0	3.0	6.1	23.2	17.4	30.8	19.5		100.0	502.0
1995	10.2	4.6	9.6	28.1	19.0	24.0	14.7		100.0	633.9
1997	10.6	6.1	11.9	28.4	18.8	22.3	4.8	7.7	100.0	695.7
1998	10.8	7.5	12.2	28.2	18.5	21.1	5.6	6.9	100.0	730.7
1999 - Total
- thousands		56.0	81.2	219.0	135.6	156.4	38.1	51.5		742.1
‑ %	10.8	7.6	11.0	29.7	18.4	21.2	5.2	7.0	100.0
Age
15‑17	10.8	‑	‑	44.8	43.9	8.3	1.3	1.1	100.0	72.6
18‑24	11.7	3.8	19.3	43.0	17.6	13.4	1.7	1.7	100.0	162.3
25‑34	11.4	10.4	12.3	35.0	18.0	19.8	1.8	2.5	100.0	197.4
35‑44	10.6	12.8	10.2	22.6	18.7	26.8	4.8	3.9	100.0	138.9
45‑54	7.4	9.8	8.5	13.5	10.9	36.3	10.5	10.4	100.0	80.1
55‑64	6.0	5.4	6.6	8.7	7.0	32.2	16.9	22.7	100.0	49.7
65+	2.1	2.2	3.7	5.0	5.0	18.8	20.5	44.3	100.0	40.8
Men ‑ Total	11.0	38.0	10.3	31.1	20.5	21.0	4.8	3.2	100.0	371.9
15‑17	10.8	‑	‑	43.7	44.8	8.1	1.9	0.3	100.0	36.3
18‑24	11.6	3.2	17.2	43.1	20.9	12.7	1.5	1.1	100.0	82.6
25‑34	11.5	11.7	11.0	36.1	19.9	18.2	2.0	1.0	100.0	99.8
35‑44	11.2	16.0	10.9	24.9	20.6	21.8	3.4	2.3	100.0	71.1
45‑54	9.5	13.9	8.8	16.2	13.6	37.9	4.8	4.0	100.0	39.7
55‑64	7.4	6.9	4.9	10.5	8.1	44.9	16.2	6.9	100.0	24.7
65+	4.0	2.3	2.3	6.4	3.5	26.0	31.2	26.6	100.0	17.4
Women ‑ Total	10.5	6.2	11.7	28.3	16.2	21.4	5.5	10.7	100.0	370.2
15‑17	10.8	‑	‑	45.8	43.1	8.6	0.6	1.9	100.0	36.2
18‑24	11.9	4.4	21.5	43.0	14.2	14.2	0.6	2.3	100.0	79.6
25‑34	11.4	9.1	13.5	33.9	16.0	21.4	1.6	4.1	100.0	97.6
35‑44	9.7	9.4	9.6	20.2	16.7	32.0	6.2	5.6	100.0	67.8
45‑54	7.0	5.7	8.2	10.9	8.2	34.7	16.1	16.6	100.0	40.4
55‑64	3.6	4.0	8.4	6.8	6.0	19.7	17.7	38.6	100.0	24.9
65+	0.9	2.2	4.8	3.9	6.1	13.4	12.6	57.6	100.0	23.3

Source: The Central Bureau of Statistics.

(b)Attendance rates in the education system

The following tables reveal the gradual increase in the number of pupils in the Israeli education system. The first table shows the current number and rate of attendance in State schools. The second table presents the 1999 figures on the number of primary and secondary

education pupils divided into four education sectors (the Jewish, and non‑Jewish sectors). The third table reflects the increase in number of students in all educational institutions since the submission of Israel’s initial report. The fourth table deals with primary and secondary education only, and illustrates the changes in number of Jewish and non‑Jewish pupils in every

school grade, during the years.

Table 55

Number of students enrolled in 1999 in the pre-school, primary and secondary

education system and their percentage in their total age group population

Pre-school education	Primary education	Secondary education
Free and compulsory education	Free education
Ages 3-5	Ages 5-15	Ages 16-18
Public kindergartens	Primary school (grades 1-8)	Lower secondary (grades 7-9)	Upper secondary (grades 10-12)
270 000 (72%)	731 000 (98%)	200 000	301 000 (93%)

Source: Ministry of Education and the Central Bureau of Statistics.

The above figures do not include pupils attending Talmud‑Torah (Orthodox Jewish) pre‑schools, and institutions under the supervision of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (vocational and industrial schools).

Table 56

Number of pupils in schools by sector and by level, 1999 (thousands of pupils) *

Sector	Total	Primary education	Low secondary education	Upper secondary education
Total	1 230	730	240	300
Jewish	998	556	187	255
Non‑Jewish	232	174	53	45

* The figures in this table do not include kindergartens and higher education.

(There are approximately 1,270,000 pupils in schools: about 79 per cent of them are in the Jewish sector and 21 per cent in the non‑Jewish sector.)

Table 57

Pupils in educational institutions

	1999/00*	1998/99R	1979/80	1969/70	1959/60	1948/49
1. Grand total (2+12)	1 917 388	1 875 580	1 200 636	823 491	578 003	140 817
Educational system (3+12)	1 873 388	1 831 391	1 156 636	797 191	567 051	140 817
Other institutions (11)	44 000	44 189	44 000	26 300	10 952	‑
	Hebrew education
2. Total (3+11)	1 580 554	1 552 901	1 023 410	712 954	531 923	129 688
3. Educational system - Total (4 through 10)	1 536 554	1 508 712	979 410	686 654	520 971	129 688
4. Kindergartens (1)	310 000	307 346	246 600	107 668	75 699	25 406
5. Primary education ‑ total	563 839	556 401	436 387	394 354	375 054	91 133
Primary schools	550 674	545 090	424 173	375 534	357 644	91 133
Schools for handicapped children	13 165	11 311	12 214	18 820	17 410	. .
Post‑primary education - Total (6+7)	446 706	441 763	216 602	137 344	55 142	10 218
6. Intermediate schools	188 122	186 628	72 792	7 908	‑	‑
7. Secondary schools ‑ Total	258 584	255 135	143 810	129 436	55 142	10 218
Secondary one‑track	143 728	139 289	91 138	98 591	. .	. .
Secondary multi‑track	114 856	115 846	52 672	30 845	. .	. .
Type of secondary education
General	143 075	154 816	61 583	63 731	32 894	7 168
Continuation classes	9 452	8 975	6 438	8 508	7 065	1 048
Technological/vocational	100 657	85 753	70 681	49 556	10 167	2 002
Agricultural	5 400	5 591	5 108	7 641	5 016	. .
8. Post‑secondary institutions (2)	50 000	46 682	25 341	11 894	5 801	1 296
9. Non-university institutions for higher education (3)	53 089	47 390	‑	‑	‑	‑
10. Universities	112 920	109 130	54 480	35 374	9 275	1 635
11. Other institutions	44 000	44 189	44 000	26 300	10 952	‑
For primary education age (4)	‑	‑	10 500	‑	‑	‑
For post‑primary education age (5)	20 000	20 466	25 700	‑	‑	‑
For post‑secondary education age (6)	24 000	23 733	7 800	‑	‑	‑
	Arab education
12. Educational system - Total (13 through 17)	336 834	322 679	177 226	110 537	46 080	11 129
13. Kindergartens (7)	49 000	47 681	17 344	14 211	7 274	1 124
14. Primary education - Total	182 519	174 271	121 985	85 449	36 729	9 991
Primary schools	180 266	171 711	121 101	85 094	36 652	9 991
Schools for handicapped children	2 253	2 560	884	355	77	‑
Post‑primary education - Total (15+16)	101 979	98 330	37 276	10 507	1 956	14
15. Intermediate schools	53 708	52 963	14 803	2 457	‑	‑

Table 57 ( continued )

	1999/00*	1998/99R	1979/80	1969/70	1959/60	1948/49
	Arab education
16. Secondary schools - Total	48 271	45 367	22 473	8 050	1 956	14
Secondary one‑track	16 258	15 788	17 373	. .	1 956	14
Secondary multi‑track	32 013	29 579	5 100	. .	‑	‑
Type of secondary education
General	33 327	31 655	19 034	6 198	1 933	14
Technological/vocational	14 472	13 098	2 645	1 462	‑	‑
Agricultural	472	614	794	390	23	‑
17. Post‑secondary institutions - Total	3 336	2 397	621	370	121	‑
Teacher training colleges	(8)336	(8)273	485	370	121	‑
Other post‑secondary institutions	3 000	2 124	136	. .	. .	‑

Source: The Central Bureau of Statistics.

The changes in the figures in the last table since the submission of Israel’s initial report were due only to demographic changes.

Table 58

Pupils in primary and post‑primary education, by grade

	*1999/00	R1998/99	1989/90	1979/80	1969/70	1959/60	1948/49
	Hebrew education (2)
Grand total	1 295 343	1 270 765	1 006 935	812 250	603 716	461 491	108 131
Total	1 010 845	998 164	799 128	652 989	531 698	429 586	101 351
I	84 936	86 304	70 569	66 166	48 803	48 427	15 125
II	86 802	83 267	68 058	64 797	48 217	50 724	12 124
III	84 878	83 745	68 782	65 576	47 624	51 067	12 665
IV	84 755	86 071	67 492	62 736	50 422	47 389	11 882
V	87 299	85 183	66 933	59 396	51 248	44 897	11 793
VI	86 209	84 269	69 131	57 221	50 541	45 388	10 447
VII ‑ Total	84 014	86 547	69 224	54 395	51 750	45 350	9 762
Thereof: intermediate schools	61 359	63 716	39 728	25 078	5 629	‑	‑
VIII ‑ Total	87 622	84 011	72 394	54 212	49 570	38 431	7 335
Thereof: intermediate schools	64 790	62 493	42 562	25 047	2 279	‑	‑
Special primary classes of unspecified grade	685	‑	3 088	2 013	4 087	3 381	‑
IX ‑ Total	84 769	85 703	67 446	51 584	43 926	21 841	4 461
Thereof: intermediate schools	61 594	60 419	38 318	22 667	‑	‑	‑
X	83 671	78 946	62 426	44 857	35 402	15 263	2 936
XI	78 024	76 411	57 654	37 211	28 902	10 707	1 896
XII ‑ Total	72 423	73 057	52 735	31 316	20 503	6 581	925
Thereof: in general secondary (1)	41 542	45 879	25 956	14 557	13 363	4 256	. .
XIII	3 619	3 178	2 456	1 155	435	‑	‑
XIV	1 139	1 472	740	354	268	‑	‑

Table 58 ( continued )

	*1999/00	R1998/99	1989/90	1979/80	1969/70	1959/60	1948/49
Arab education
Total	284 498	272 393	207 807	159 261	72 018	31 905	6 780
I	29 409	29 812	20 611	18 931	11 328	6 219	2 012
II	29 653	27 745	19 549	18 448	10 927	5 403	1 346
III	28 027	26 948	19 674	17 879	9 639	5 081	1 179
IV	27 068	27 536	19 314	17 634	8 972	3 921	959
V	27 566	24 673	20 303	16 651	8 314	2 860	608
VI	24 300	23 304	20 521	15 065	7 036	2 802	375
VII ‑ Total	25 252	24 730	19 962	14 280	5 981	2 679	231
Thereof: intermediate schools	18 797	18 718	10 103	5 383	466	‑	‑
VIII ‑ Total	25 249	23 067	19 556	13 582	4 679	1 888	56
Thereof: intermediate schools	18 668	17 623	10 208	5 151	321	‑	‑
Special primary classes	53	‑	20	49	50	23	‑
of unspecified grade
IX ‑ Total	22 177	22 050	16 639	8 748	2 491	495	14
Thereof: intermediate schools	16 243	16 622	8 617	4 269	‑	‑	‑
X	17 272	15 597	13 066	7 067	1 224	209	‑
XI	14 769	14 009	9 984	4 633	842	186	‑
XII‑ Total	13 412	12 731	8 550	3 743	535	139	‑
Thereof: in general secondary	9 579	8 991	6 575	3 171	469	139	‑
XIII	236	191	58	‑	‑	‑	‑
XIV	55	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑

Source: The Central Bureau of Statistics.

(c)Adult education

The following table shows the number of adults engaged in elementary/remedial education (primary and secondary), pre‑academic and academic special adults’ programmes and immigrant absorption programmes. In the years since the submission of Israel’s initial report, there has been stability in the situation in adult education.

Participation in adult education

The declining figures in immigrant absorption programmes, is due to the decline in the number of immigrants.

Table 59

	Pre‑academic preparatory programmes	Immigrant absorption programmes	Primary education	Secondary education	Popular universities
1996	10 100	63 500	9 500	11 000	32 100
1997	10 800	68 800	9 500	11 000	33 400
1998	10 900	64 600	9 500	11 000	36 200

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Education.

(d)Higher education

The following tables show the number of students in higher education institutions and their separation into degree, field of study, sex, age, population group and origin. There has been a major increase since the submission of Israel’s initial report in the number of students all across the board.

Table 60

Number of students in institutions of higher education

Year	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Total students	116 700	125 400	135 500	150 200	158 700
Students in colleges	19 400	23 700	31 600	41 100	47 400
Students in universities	97 300	101 700	104 900	109 100	111 300

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics.

By the year 1999, an increase of 26 per cent over 1995 was reached in the number of students in institutions of higher education (instead of 16 per cent, as was expected in Israel’s initial report).

Table 61

Students in universities, by degree, field of study, sex, age, religion and origin
(Percentages, unless otherwise stated)
	1998/99
Engineering and A rchitecture	Agriculture	Sciences and Mathematics	Para-medical studies	Medicine	Law	Social Sciences	Humanities	Total	1995/96	1989/90	1984/85
First degree - total
- Absolute numbers	11 050	743	11 653	4 622	1 225	3 441	20 301	20 7 82	73 820	68 950	46 960	44 355
- Percentages	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Thereof: women	23.0	56.0	43.0	81.2	46.9	52.3	63.8	70.8	56.6	56.5	51.3	48.3
Age
Up to 19	7.9	1.0	8.6	4.8	10.8	4.3	3.0	4.1	5.2	6.3	7.3	6.4
20-21	13.7	12.4	19.9	21.5	23.2	19.1	16.6	16.2	17.0	18.3	17.6	16.6
22-24	43.8	48.0	46.6	46.9	43.8	46.1	48.1	39.6	44.6	41.4	39.8	37.2
25-29	32.4	32.7	23.4	20.2	21.5	25.3	22.3	24.4	24.7	24.0	24.5	24.7
30-34	1.8	4.0	1.3	2.5	0.4	3.0	4.1	6.2	3.7	4.1	5.1	7.2
35+	0.4	1.9	0.3	4.1	0.2	2.3	5.9	9.5	4.8	6.0	5.7	7.9
Religion
Jews	92.5	97.8	92.5	88.2	90.8	92.3	93.6	88.2	91.3	93.0	93.3	92.1
Other religions	7.5	2.2	7.5	11.8	9.2	7.7	6.4	11.8	8.7	7.0	6.7	7.9
Origin (of Jews) - total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Israel	37.6	43.1	37.5	31.4	45.4	42.1	35.1	32.3	35.5	32.5	28.8	19.2
Asia-Africa	21.9	16.5	19.3	20.0	16.1	23.2	29.3	32.9	26.3	27.1	27.9	27.1
Europe-America	40.6	40.5	43.2	48.6	38.5	94.7	35.6	34.8	38.2	40.3	43.3	53.7
Second degree - total
- Absolute numbers	2 466	424	2 729	671	1 967	886	12 381	8 051	29 577	25 450	16 100	12 765
- Percentages	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Thereof: women	22.2	50.5	44.3	86.7	47.3	49.9	56.8	75.8	57.7	56.4	50.3	46.8
Age
Up to 24	12.7	8.6	25.6	6.4	30.3	8.6	7.8	7.5	11.1	11.7	13.6	12.4
25-29	56.1	7.3	60.2	31.3	55.0	61.3	52.7	32.4	48.1	45.4	44.1	42.0
30-34	20.7	21.6	10.5	20.1	11 .6	19.7	19.2	19.2	18.2	17.5	19.4	21.8
35-44	8.2	7.2	2.7	26.6	2.1	8.7	1.9	22.0	14.0	16.5	18.3	16.7
45+	2.3	5.2	1.0	15.6	1.0	1.6	6.4	18.8	8.7	8.9	4.6	7.1
Religion
Jews	9 6.4	99.3	96.4	96.1	92.8	95.4	98.3	94.1	96.7	97.0	96.7	96.8
Other religions	3.6	0.7	3.6	3.9	7.2	4.6	1.7	5.6	3.6	3.0	3.3	3.2

Table 61 ( continued )

	1998/99
Engineering and Architecture	Agriculture	Sc iences and Mathematics	Para-medical studies	Medicine	Law	Social Sciences	Humanities	Total	1995/96	1989/90	1984/85
Origin (of Jews) - total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Israel	28.7	42 .7	34.0	24.2	37.7	43.0	32.1	23.8	30.4	29.7	22.9	13.1
Asia-Africa	21.0	17.9	17.0	21.1	16.9	21.0	26.0	28.7	24.6	24.4	19.9	16.5
Europe-America	50.2	39.4	49.0	54.7	45.4	36.1	41.9	47.5	45.0	45.9	57.2	70.4
Third degree - total
- Absolute numbers	484	221	2 575	83	201	87	904	1 752	6 307	5 470	3 910	3 215
- Percentages	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	1 00.0	100.0
Thereof: women	26.4	45.7	45.0	(54.2)	69.7	(46.0)	54.8	60.8	50.3	47.8	41.3	39.7
Age
Up to 29	21.2	22.3	43.3	(38.0)	23.9	(29.4)	22.3	7.3	26.8	25.8	25.6	21.6
30-34	38.6	41. 1	38.4	(39.4)	33.9	(37.6)	27.3	18.3	31.1	34.1	35.1	32.6
35-44	30.8	21.8	14.5	(16.9)	28.6	(21.2)	30.6	32.2	24.0	24.3	29.0	31.8
45+	9.4	14.7	3.4	(5.6)	13.6	(11.7)	19.8	42.2	18.2	15.9	10.3	14.0
Religion
Jews	98.4	96.4	96.6	(85.7)	92.1	(96.5)	96.7	96.8	96.5	96.5	96.1	97.3
Other religions	1.6	3.6	3.4	(14.3)	7.9	(3.5)	3.3	3.2	3.5	3.5	3.9	2.7
Origin (of Jews) - total	100.0	100 .0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Israel	21.0	33.5	31.0	(20.6)	23.2	(37.3)	27.5	19.4	26.2	26.3	17.1	9.1
Asia-Africa	19.2	16.3	16.0	(10.3)	12.0	(11.8)	16.4	13.8	15.4	15.7	15.5	12.5
Europe-America	59.8	50.2	53.0	(69.1)	64.8	(50.9)	56.1	66.8	58.4	58.1	67.4	78.4

447.The next table illustrates the increase over a period of time in the percentage of Israelis with higher education.

Figure 1

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics.

448.The number of persons with higher education among the Jewish population grew between 1980 and 1999 by about 88 per cent (from 20.8 per cent to 39.0 per cent); among the non-Jewish population, the number of persons with higher education grew by about 156 per cent (from 7.7 per cent to 19.7 per cent). All these figures are higher than those observed in 1995.

(e)Drop-out rates

449.The following data shows the scope of the drop-out problem. In the Jewish sector there has been a slight reduction of this phenomenon, but in the non-Jewish sector there has been a slight increase. The reason for that is that these figures relate only to attendance in institutions under the supervision of the Ministry of Education. Many non-Jews moved to institutions under the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Moreover, combining the figures of attendance in institutions under the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the drop-out rates show a trend of stability or even a slight reduction.

450.The rates of attendance in the education system among pupils aged 4-17 reached 90 per cent in 1995, and 92 per cent in 1998. These statistics refer to the number of pupils enrolled in frameworks supervised by the Ministry of Education. It should be noted that attendance rates in the Arab education sector are still lower than for Hebrew education. If attendance figures for the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs are combined, the results show an attendance rate of 98 per cent among 15 year-olds, 95 per cent for 16 year-olds, and 89 per cent for 17 year‑olds.

Table 62

Number of children and youth not attending school (ages 6-17)

Children and youth

	1994	1995	1998
Total	37 000	30 000	30 700
Percentage	3.1	2.5	2.4

Source: Ministry of Education, based on Central Bureau of Statistics Data.

Table 63

Attendance of 14-17 year-olds in the Jewish education system - percentages

	1980	1985	1990	1995	1998
Total	79.5	86.9	90.5	94.4	94.5
Boys	72.9	80.7	85.5	90.9	91.9
Girls	86.5	93.7	95.7	98.1	97.3

Table 64

14-17 year‑olds in Arab education - (percentages)

	1980	1985	1990	1995	1998
Total	51.3	62.1	62.8	66.4	78.9
Boys	58.0	65.6	66.4	65.2	75.5
Girls	44.0	58.1	58.9	67.5	82.5

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics.

* These figures relate only to pupils in institutions under the supervision of the Ministry of Education. If data from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Religious Affairs are added, the attendance rates will be higher.

Figure 2

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics.

Table 65

Pupils in grades 9-12 by grade and school leaving

	1998/99-1999/00	1997/98-1998/99	1991/92-1992/93
9-12	9-11	9-11	9-11
%	Absolute numbers	%	Absolute numbers	%	Absolute numbers	%	Absolute numbers
Grand total	100.0	396 974	100.0	306 956	100.0	296 663	100.0	207 429
Did not leave school	81.9	324 971	77.0	236 213	77.3	229 250	86.6	179 634
Left school - total	18.1	72 003	23.0	70 743	22.7	67 413	13.4	27 795
Left the educational system (dropped out) - total	6.0	23 607	7.2	22 347	7.3	21 648	7.6	15 743
Dropped out at end of school year	4.4	17 279	5.5	17 279	5.7	16 775	5.8	12 048
During the school year	1.6	6 328	1.7	5 068	1.6	4 873	1.8	3 695
Left for another school	12.1	48 396	15.8	48 396	15.4	45 765	5.8	12 052
	Hebrew education
Total	100.0	329 920	100.0	253 536	100.0	245 727	100.0	178 122
Did not leave school	83.4	275 261	78.8	199 793	78.8	193 585	87.2	155 264
Left school - total	16.6	54 659	21.2	53 743	21.2	52 142	12.8	22 858
Left the educational system (dropped out) - total	4.8	15 708	5.8	14 792	6.0	14 625	6.7	11 926
Dropped out at end of school year	3.5	11 409	4.5	11 409	4.6	11 216	5.0	8 938
During the school year	1.4	4 299	1.3	3 383	1.4	3 409	1.7	2 988
Left for another school	11.8	38 951	15.4	38 951	15.2	37 517	6.1	10 932

Table 65 ( continued )

	1998/99-1999/00	1997/98-1998/99	1991/92-1992/93
9-12	9-11	9-11	9-11
%	Absolute numbers	%	Absolute numbers	%	Absolute numbers	%	Absolute numbers
	Arab education
Total	100.0	67 054	100.0	53 420	100.0	50 936	100.0	29 307
Did not leave school	74.1	49 710	68.2	36 420	70.0	35 665	83.2	24 370
Left school - total	25.9	17 344	31.8	17 000	30.0	15 271	16.8	4 937
Left the educational system (dropped out) - total	11.8	7 899	14.1	7 555	13.8	7 023	13.0	3 817
Dropped out at end of school year	8.8	5 870	11.0	5 870	10.9	5 559	10.6	3 110
During the school year	3.0	2 029	3.1	1 685	2.9	1 464	2.4	707
Left for another school	14.1	9 445	17.7	9 445	16.2	8 248	3.8	1 120

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics.

451.These figures show a trend of constant increase in the percentage of adolescent pupils who remain in school. The trend in the Arab education sector is less clear, but may be defined as “stable”. Since the 1990s, in both Jewish and Arab education sectors, the percentage of attendance among female pupils has been higher than that of male pupils every year.

(f)Graduating rates at all levels

452.The following tables show the percentage of pupils entitled to matriculation certificates upon their graduation from high school and the ratio between those examinees who meet the requirements for matriculation certificate and those who do not (separated into Jews and non‑Jews, sex and type of school). These tables indicate that there is an increase in the percentage of those entitled to matriculation, and the percentage of candidates to matriculation:

Figure 3

Source: Ministry of Education, Economics and Statistics Division Examination Information Center of the Examinations Division and the Senior Division of Information Systems.

* Age 17 in the population.

Figure 4

Source: Ministry of Education, Economics and Statistics Division Examination Information Center of the Examinations Division and the Senior Division of Information Systems.

* Age 17 in the population.

453.The graph shows that the last five years have seen a great increase in the percentage of those who are matriculation candidates and of those who are entitled to matriculation certificates in the age group, especially in the Bedouin, Druze and Arab education sectors.

Table 66

Examinees in matriculation exams by qualification for certificate

and various characteristics

	Not entitled	Entitled	Total	Not entitled	Entitled	Total (1)
Grand total	Percentage	Absolute numbers
1987	39.6	60.4	100.0	14 917	22 740	37 657
1991	36.0	64.0	100.0	16 648	29 577	46 225
1995	34.1	65.9	100.0	19 972	38 566	58 538
1996 (2)	35.3	64.7	100.0	22 138	40 644	62 782
1997	37.1	62.9	100.0	23 443	39 713	63 156
1998 (2)	36.8	63.2	100.0	24 294	41 666	65 960
1999	36.6	63.4	100.0	26 048	45 115	71 163
Hebrew education
1987	37.2	62.8	100.0	12 094	20 389	32 483
1991	32.7	67.3	100.0	12 792	26 362	39 154
1995	31.1	68.9	100.0	15 477	34 331	49 808
1996 (2)	32.6	67.4	100.0	17 406	36 020	53 426
1997	34.6	65.4	100.0	18 525	34 950	53 475
1998 (2)	34.4	65.6	100.0	19 275	36 806	56 081
1999	34.5	65.5	100.0	20 783	39 486	60 269
District
Jerusalem	31.4	68.6	100.0	1 991	4 349	6 340
Northern	37.0	63.0	100.0	2 489	4 230	6 719
Haifa	32.0	68.0	100.0	2 718	5 783	8 501
Central	34.3	65.7	100.0	6 153	11 782	17 935
Tel Aviv	33.6	66.4	100.0	4 190	8 264	12 454
Southern	39.0	61.0	100.0	3 242	5 078	8 320
Supervision
General	34.9	65.1	100.0	16 649	31 010	47 659
Administration of religious education	31.0	69.0	100.0	3 602	8 008	11 610
Other religious	53.2	46.8	100.0	532	468	1 000
Examination profile
Academic emphasis	29.6	70.4	100.0	13 015	31 006	44 021
Technological emphasis	47.8	52.2	100.0	7 768	8 480	16 248
Sex
Boys	38.0	62.0	100.0	10 473	17 090	27 563
Girls	30.5	69.5	100.0	9 629	21 907	31 536

Table 66 ( continued )

	Not entitled	Entitled	Total	Not entitled	Entitled	Total (1)
Grand total	Percentage	Absolute numbers
Origin
Israel	32.2	67.8	100.0	9 447	19 848	29 295
Asia-Africa	40.8	59.2	100.0	5 792	8 414	14 206
Europe-America	30.2	69.8	100.0	4 326	9 981	14 307
Arab education
1987	54.6	45.4	100.0	2 823	2 351	5 174
1991	54.5	45.5	100.0	3 856	3 215	7 071
1995	51.6	48.5	100.0	4 495	4 235	8 730
1996 (2)	50.6	49.4	100.0	4 732	4 624	9 356
1997	50.8	49.2	100.0	4 918	4 763	9 681
1998 (2)	50.8	49.2	100.0	5 019	4 860	9 879
1999	48.3	51.7	100.0	5 265	5 629	10 894
Examination profile
Academic emphasis	43.4	56.6	100.0	3 617	4 713	8 330
Technological emphasis	64.3	35.7	100.0	1 648	916	2 564
Sex
Boys	53.6	46.4	100.0	2 590	2 240	4 830
Girls	43.1	56.9	100.0	2 561	3 383	5 944
Religion
Muslims	49.8	50.2	100.0	3 985	4 022	8 007
Christians	31.4	68.6	100.0	404	881	1 285
Druze	54.5	45.5	100.0	863	720	1 583

454.The following tables include statistics on graduating students in Israel’s universities, in the Open University (a correspondence educational institution), non-university high education institutions and teachers’ training colleges. These tables show a trend of an increasing amount of graduating students, and indicate that there are more women graduating than men:

Table 67

Recipients of degrees from universities, by degree and institution

Degree	1998/99	1997/98	1996/97	1989/90	1979/80	1974/75	1959/60	1948/49
Grand total	24 955	23 807	23 106	13 915	9 371	5 566	1 237	193
First degree	16 094	16 235	16 478	10 192	6 740	4 064	779	135
Second degree	7 162	5 957	5 085	2 790	1 652	807	337	48
Third degree	688	745	637	450	378	238	81	10
Diploma	1 011	870	906	483	601	457	. .	. .

Table 67 ( continued )

D egree	1998/99	1997/98	1996/97	1989/90	1979/80	1974/75	1959/60	1948/49
Hebrew University
Total	4 973	4 722	4 679	3 593	2 396	2 622	707	58
First degree	3 237	3 030	3 100	2 412	1 430	1 849	315	-
Second degree	1 402	1 324	1 184	909	594	411	323	48
Third degree	205	217	188	133	130	135	69	10
Diploma	129	151	207	139	242	227	. .	. .
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Total	2 176	2 146	2 242	1 816	1 347	1 032	464	135
First degree	1 453	1 446	1 655	1 313	1 045	791	404	135
Second degree	591	522	446	403	226	177	48	-
Third degree	117	148	94	86	53	54	12	-
Diploma	15	30	47	14	23	10	-	-
Tel Aviv University
Total	5 566	5 706	6 016	4 035	2 452	1 203	18	-
First degree	3 401	3 672	4 154	2 940	1 734	935	12	-
Second degree	1 763	1 659	1 543	877	527	141	6	-
Third degree	158	150	139	100	83	4	-	-
Diploma	244	225	180	118	108	123	-	-
Bar-Ilan University
Total	5 302	4 724	4 139	1 621	1 265	423	48	-
First degree	3 831	3 549	3 120	1 266	1 045	309	48	-
Second degree	1 125	908	740	236	121	47	-	-
Third degree	81	76	50	31	34	-	-	-
Diploma	265	191	229	88	65	67	-	-
Haifa University
Total	3 110	3 259	3 119	1 400	1 015	187	-	-
First degree	2 042	2 375	2 401	1 160	863	157	-	-
Second degree	821	657	538	133	68	-	-	-
Third degree	15	17	17	2	-	-	-	-
Diploma	232	210	163	105	84	30	-	-
Ben Gurion University of the Negev
Total	3 687	3 090	2 751	1 308	775	23	-	-
First degree	2 130	2 163	2 048	1 101	623	23	-	-
Second degree	1 392	820	578	165	59	-	-	-
Third degree	39	44	45	23	14	-	-	-
Diploma	126	63	80	19	79	34	-	-
Weizmann Institute of Science
Total	141	160	160	142	121	76	-	-
Second degree	68	87	56	67	57	31	-	-
Third degree	73	93	104	75	64	45	-	-

Table 68

Recipients of first degree from the Open University by sex and field of study

	1998/99	1997/98	1996/97	1995/96	1994/95	1993/94	1992/93	1991/92	1990/91	1989/90
Total	1 234	1 129	1 048	650	615	405	350	339	304	281
Men	535	501	615	270	275	185	196	178	154	153
Women	699	628	433	380	340	220	154	161	150	128
Field of study
Humanities and social sciences	1 128	1 028	954	581	550	357	317	296	270	243
Sciences and mathematics	106	101	94	69	65	48	33	43	34	38

Table 69

First‑degree students in non-university institutions for higher education,

by field of study, year of study and sex

Year of study	Fifth	Fourth	Third	Second	First	Total
1981/82	-	343	453	546	685	2 027
1984/85	-	706	656	684	835	2 881
1994/95	77	3 32 6	5 105	5 374	5 520	19 402
1998/99	198	6 608	12 231	12 943	15 446	47 425
1999/2000 - Total	255	8 151	13 823	14 320	16 708	53 257
Field of study
Teacher training	-	4 379	5 542	5 190	4 899	20 004
Technology sciences	-	1 076	2 56 8	2 970	4 729	11 343
Economics and business administration	255	386	1 881	1 935	1 948	6 405
Arts design and architecture	-	680	693	786	1 050	3 209
Law	-	1 582	1 574	1 629	1 786	6 571
Communications	-	41	449	478	617	1 585
Soc ial sciences		13	1 116	1 332	1 679	4 140
Thereof: Women
Total	107	5 324	8 517	8 363	8 979	31 290
Teacher training	-	3 764	4 704	4 323	3 937	16 728
Technology sciences	-	273	665	703	1 038	2 679
Economics and business admini stration	107	143	772	750	767	2 539
Arts design and architecture	-	403	484	500	721	2 108
Law	-	710	735	742	880	3 067
Communications	-	24	314	348	410	1 096
Social sciences		7	843	997	1 226	3 073

Table 70

Recipients of degrees from universities, by field of study, sex, age, religion and origin

(Percentages, unless otherwise stated)

	1998/99	1994/95	1984/85
Engineering and architecture	Agriculture	Sciences and Mathematics	Medicine	Law	Social sciences	Humanities	Total
First degree: Total
- Absolute numbers	1 785	161	2 000	1 022	1 120	5 637	4 510	16 235	13 154	8 113
- Per cent	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Thereof: women	18.8	51.6	44.1	78.9	43.6	61.5	74.0	57.8	55.3	49.0
Age
Up to 21	1.5	0.0	7.4	4.4	0.4	2.2	1.2	2.5	3.4	3.2
22-24	28.8	17.4	33.5	34.8	24.4	29.6	25.2	28.6	29.1	24.8
25-29	60.9	73.9	54.0	49.0	62.0	52.1	46.3	52.4	51.5	49.5
30-34	8.2	6.2	4.1	4.6	9.3	7.2	10.3	7.8	7.7	11.1
35-44	0.5	2.5	0.9	4.8	2.6	6.6	11.0	6.0	5.8	8.0
45+	0.1	0.0	0.2	2.4	1.3	2.3	6.1	2.7	2.5	3.4
Religion
Jews	94.1	98.6	94.6	91.2	94.6	96.5	92.1	94.3	94.9	95.3
Other religions	5.9	1.4	5.4	8.8	5.4	3.5	7.9	5.7	5.1	4.7
Origin (of Jews)
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Israel	35.7	46.0	33.7	33.4	41.9	31.9	27.8	32.4	31.8	16.5
Asia-Africa	22.1	16.7	19.5	17.7	21.4	29.8	33.3	27.2	27.4	24.3
Europe-America	42.2	37.4	46.7	48.9	36.7	38.3	38.9	40.4	40.8	59.2

Table 70 (continued)

	1998/99	1994/95	1984/85
Engineering and architecture	Agriculture	Sciences and Mathematics	Medicine	Law	Social sciences	Humanities	Total
Second degree: Total
- Absolute numbers	439	87	639	537	116	1 480	669	5 957	3 767	2 140
- Per cent	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Thereof: women	22.8	55.2	48.5	54.2	44.8	50.2	77.6	54.6	49.7	40.8
Age
Up to 24	0.7	2.3	6.9	0.4	0.9	0.8	1.0	1.5	2.6	2.3
25-29	43.3	45.3	66.5	50.1	41.4	33.6	17.7	35.9	35.2	39.4
30-34	32.8	31.4	19.8	36.0	38.8	30.0	20.4	27.6	28.6	32.5
35-44	17.4	14.0	5.8	8.5	17.2	23.4	28.3	20.6	22.1	16.7
45+	5.8	7.0	1.1	5.0	1.7	12.2	32.6	14.3	11.5	9.1
Religion
Jews	97.9	97.7	96.2	94.0	97.4	98.8	97.2	97.6	97.4	97.1
Other religions	2.1	2.3	3.8	6.0	2.6	1.2	2.8	2.4	2.6	2.9
Origin (of Jews)
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Israel	25.1	32.0	29.6	29.7	34.4	27.4	20.8	26.3	27.6	11.6
Asia-Africa	17.2	17.7	16.2	15.7	18.6	24.9	25.3	22.5	23.2	14.0
Europe-America	57.7	50.3	54.2	54.6	47.1	47.7	54.0	51.2	49.2	74.4
Third degree:
Total
- Absolute numbers	103	38	358	36	5	80	125	745	579	356
- Per cent	100.0	…	100.0	…	…	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Thereof: women	19.4	…	40.2	…	…	47.5	38.4	41.3	39.0	32.6
aged 35+	52.7	…	31.9	…	…	74.7	95.9	49.8	53.5	55.3

Table 71

Number of graduates receiving B.Ed. degrees at teacher’s training colleges

1980	75 graduates
1983	127 graduates
1987	311 graduates
1990	655 graduates
1993	1 026 graduates
1994	1 409 graduates
1995	2 144 graduates
1997	2 884 graduates
1998	3 701 graduates

4. Education budgets

As the following data illustrates, the amount of government resources spent on education has remained the same since Israel’s initial report, as a percentage of the total State budget and the GNP, but it should be mentioned that this percentage is relatively high:

Table 72

National expenditure on education, by type of expenditure and main services

(1990-1998)

Calendar years	Grand total at current prices as percentage of GNP
1990	8.5
1991	8.5
1992	8.6
1993	9.1
1994	9.5
1995	9.9
1996	10.1
1997	10.1
1998	10.1

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics.

Table 73

National expenditure on education of the Ministry of Education, 1995-1998

Year	Fixed amount (1995) *	Actual amount
1995	25.6 billion NIS	25.6 billion NIS
1996	26.8 billion NIS	30.6 billion NIS
1997	27.4 billion NIS	34.0 billion NIS
1998	28.4 billion NIS	37.3 billion NIS

Source: Ministry of Education.

* After adjustment for the effects of inflation.

Figure 5 shows a stable educational budget per pupil, and not a decreasing one according to some critics:

Figure 5

Note: 1999 statistics are listed as estimates.

Figure 6 shows a stable percentage of governmental expenditure on education over the past few years and an increasing percentage in higher education:

Figure 6

Source: Ministry of Finance.

Figure 7 clearly establishes a gradual increase since 1990 in the portion of the total budget allocated to education expenditures. In the past three years since the submission of Israel’s initial report there has been stability in the budget. The 2000 government expenditure on education represents 10 per cent of the overall government expenditures.

Figure 7

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics.

Construction of new schools

As set out in Israel’s initial report, in recent years the Ministry of Education has allocated special budgets for building new schools, and expanding and renovating existing ones. This trend still continues.

In 2000, NIS 779 million (approximately $192.7 million) were allocated for the development budget. In addition, NIS 693 million (approximately $171.4 million) were allocated in 2000 for the continued construction of 1,880 new classrooms; NIS 25 million (approximately $6.2 million) for the renovation of school buildings; an additional NIS 18 million (approximately $4.5 million) for equipping new classrooms and NIS 20 million (approximately $4.9 million) for schools’ peripheral expenditures.

In 2000, priority in construction of classes was accorded to the Arab and Druze population. 31.5 per cent (593 classrooms) of the classrooms built were intended for the Arab, Druze (54 classrooms) and Bedouin education sectors (these sectors constitute 20 per cent of the entire population).

The vicinity of schools

No notable changes have occurred on this issue since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

5. Schooling schedules

(a)Programmes for kindergartens

No notable changes have occurred on this issue since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

(b)Primary education

The reorganization of the structure of studies in primary schools, which was reported in Israel’s initial report, has been completed.

The schools now operate according to a small number of principles: autonomy of the school, encouraging advancement of students according to their individual personality; and improving language skills. There is only a basic scheduling programme, and the school determines most of its content. The basic scheduling programme is based on seven basic approaches to education, which determine the subjects of study in the programme:

Approach	Areas of study
Symbolic-linguistic	Languages
Symbolic-logical	Mathematics
Cultural-heritage	Culture studies, according to the educational sector
Humanistic	Patriotism, citizenship and democracy, geography and history
Scientific-technological	Sciences, technology, information/communication
Aesthetic-artistic	Literature, music, painting, dance, theatre
Kinetic-physical	Physical education, dance

(c)Secondary education

No notable changes have occurred on this issue since the submission of Israel’s initial report. It should be noted that the method of financing the secondary education system is per student. This financing depends on class level, area of study and teacher profile. This type of financing system gives a budgetary advantage to technological areas of study, to areas of study in which students take matriculation examinations, and to special programmes of assistance (which will be mentioned in the next section).

6. Equal educational opportunities

The Ministry of Education regards as its main obligation the need to deal with the gaps in the educational system in Israel. The main priorities for the Ministry beginning in 1999 were:

closing gaps by elevating peripheral municipalities and weak population groups; affirmative action for the Arab educational system; elevating special education; and increasing the number of students with matriculation entitlement.

The leading programmes in these priorities are:

Implementing the Free Compulsory Education Law for ages 3-4 in places of need in all population groups (mentioned later in this article);

Several programmes for raising the level of matriculation entitlement (mentioned later in this article);

Several programmes for preventing dropping out (mentioned later in this article);

A five-year programme for affirmative action in the Arab sector (mentioned later in this article);

An affirmative action programme in the area of construction (mentioned later in this article).

The Ministry of Education has placed three other subjects at a high priority level. These are: reducing violence and use of drugs in schools, furthering science and technology education; and taking action for the purpose of both strengthening democratic sentiments among students and Jewish learning. These subjects are closely related to closing gaps and helping weak population groups.

(a)Ratio of males to females in the education system

The percentage of entitlement to matriculation certificate is still higher among female pupils than male pupils, 56 per cent in comparison with 47 per cent in 1999, from those finishing the 12th grade, which indicates an improvement. The next table shows the number of pupils in schools. The figures are problematic due to a change in the way the data is processed, which is more accurate and not based as much on estimates. Furthermore, observe the notes made about the drop-out rates, in 3 (e) of this article.

No major change occurred in the male/female proportion in institutions of higher education, since the initial report.

Table 74

Pupils in schools, by type of school, age and sex

(Rates per 1,000 in respective group of population)

	Age
17	16	15	14	14-17	6-13
Girls	Boys	Total
1996/97 - Grand total	832	900	932	910	947	888	917	950
1997/98 - Grand total	850	904	941	970	947	890	918	963
1998/99 - Grand total	846	913	942	984	956	897	926	976
	Hebrew education
1969/70	438	603	742	910	707	631	668	…
1979/80	625	743	856	946	865	729	795	…
1989/90	827	884	929	966	957	855	905	…
1996/97	881	940	960	964	978	919	948	945
1997/98	888	943	980	986	973	919	945	963
1998/99 - Total	896	947	977	997	982	929	955	978
Primary education	5	6	9	44	15	17	16	800
Post-primary education
Intermediate schools	3	9	155	713	222	223	223	173
Secondary schools - Total	888	933	813	240	745	689	716	4
General	561	585	496	98	516	355	433	4
Technological/vocational
and agricultural	327	348	317	142	229	333	283	-
	Arab education
1996/97	626	719	803	865	808	754	780	972
1997/98	674	738	830	904	825	755	789	957
1998/99 - Total	683	756	794	926	835	753	793	972
Primary education	6	8	16	64	23	25	24	807
Post-primary education
Intermediate schools	3	12	93	720	210	221	216	165
Secondary schools - Total	675	736	685	143	603	506	553	-
General	489	535	498	119	458	356	406	-
Technological/vocational
and agricultural	186	202	186	24	144	150	147	-

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics.

Table 75

Students in post-secondary non-university institutions

by field of study, sex and agea

Year of study, sex and age	Field of study
Other	Arts, design and architecture	Clerical work, law, administration, economics, etc.	Para-medical occupations	Qualified nurses	Practical engineering, technical work, etc.	Teacher training	Total
1970/71	1 265	876	1 364	600	1 177	4 793	5 442	15 517
1974/75	1 801	1 835	2 353	607	1 219	7 355	11 057	26 227
1979/80	1 737	1 375	2 176	475	1 961	7 857	11 770	27 351
1984/85	874	1 003	2 384	748	1 567	13 288	11 872	31 736
1989/90	807	1 503	1 944	742	1 273	10 747	8 291	25 307
1992/93	1 219	1 248	4 714	812	1 363	14 538	11 689	35 583
1994/95	1 339	4 541	6 905	738	1 334	18 245	9 446	42 548
1995/96	1 179	5 197	7 720	621	1 668	19 310	10 819	46 516
1997/98	2 251	5 837	7 988	536	1 859	24 830	9 620	53 172
1998/99	1 972	6 510	7 753	613	1 874	24 830	9 620	53 172
Grand total
Hebrew education - total	1 636	6 419	7 542	613	1 812	23 317	9 347	50 686
Year of study
I	913	3 337	5 125	398	830	13 772	3 585	27 960
II	648	1 941	1 522	139	572	8 928	3 175	16 925
III	75	759	579	76	298	454	2 161	4 402
IV	-	382	316	-	112	163	426	1 399
Sex
Men	671	1 943	2 977	200	200	17 103	1 115	24 209
Women	965	4 476	4 565	413	1 612	6 214	8 232	26 477
Age
Up to 24	548	2 513	2 360	384	764	15 535	7 907	30 011
25-29	381	2 738	2 677	127	368	5 473	1 037	12 801
30 and over	707	1 168	2 505	102	680	2 309	403	7 874
Arab education	336	91	211	-	62	1 513	273	2 486

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics.

a Excluding students studying towards a first degree in non-university institutions of higher education.

(b)Weak and disadvantaged population groups

General programmes of assistance

The following programmes were mentioned in Israel’s initial report. These programmes are designed to help “pupils with a potential” (which was defined in that report). Updated data are as follows:

Mabar (“Moving on”): in 2000, approximately 19,400 pupils attended this programme, compared to 10,000 in 1996;

Tahal (“Second Chance”): i n 2000, about 2,800 pupils participated in this p rogramme, compared to 2,530 in 1996;

Pre-academic preparatory programmes: about 10,700 pupils studied in such programmes in 1999, compared to 10,000 in 1996;

Michael (“Utilizing personal skills for excellence”): i n 2000, approximately 8,400 pupils atte nded this programme, compared to 6,000 in 1996.

There are also new programmes:

Malbam: this is an experimental programme, with a modular approach towards the matriculation exams, for pupils studying at educational centre and in special guidance classes at comprehensive schools. Until the present, they were not expected to take the matriculation exams, and their teachers were not trained for preparing them for the exams. In 2000, about 3,200 pupils participated in this programme;

Second Chance - Technicians: this is a programme for completing matriculation exams with up to seven general studies credits, in addition to seven credits of technological studies, which are obligatory for acceptance into a technician’s study track.

Figure 8

Source: Ministry of Education.

  * The figures for the pre-academic programmes do not include pupils studying in external schools under the terms of the Demobilized Soldiers Law, 1984. From 1995, however, these figures do include pupils in external schools as part of the matriculation completion project (i.e. pupils who lack just one examination).

** The figure for the “Mabar” programme in 1999, is 19,480; the figure for the “Michael” programme is 8,400; the figure for the Pre-academic preparatory programmes in 2000 is 10,900.

It should be noted that in the past few years, a few programmes for the prevention of “drop-outs” were enlarged, while a few were reduced. Some new radical programmes were initiated, like “Ometz” and “Day Boarding Schools” (mentioned below). This explains the decrease in the amount of activities in some of the programmes in the graph, and the increase in others.

Programmes and measures employed to help “pupils at risk”

Programmes of preventive intervention and assistance intended to combat the drop-out phenomenon have been operating in 2000 in 70 schools, compared to 110 in 1996. Truant officers locate and work with pupils including drop-outs. In 2000, 47,000 pupils including 7,000 drop-outs, were reached by these activities, compared to 11,000 in 1996. Special activities are still undertaken to help reintegration of drop-outs in schools.

The “Day Boarding School” programme was developed in 1995. The aim of the programme is to advance the personal academic and educational achievements of weaker pupils. The programme’s activities take place in schools and kindergartens, four days a week, 3-4 hours per day. The majority of the time is dedicated to educational activities (homework preparation and studies), and the rest to social activities and cultural enrichment. In 2000, 50,000 pupils participated in these activities.

“Children’s home” programmes and afternoon-care centers in schools give pupils a place to stay after school hours, until the evening. In 2000, about 740 such programmes and centres were serving approximately 10,000 children, compared to 500 programmes serving 8,000 children in 1996. The Differential Benefits programme has not changed.

Individualized treatment is available as immediate assistance for pupils who are at high risk, especially those with a serious family background, who have dropped out of the system or who cannot be accepted within the system in their present condition. The educational intervention they receive is intensive for a short period of time, and long-term monitoring follows this until the child can adjust to being in school.

“Ometz” (faith in myself, ready to try, anticipating achievements) is a special curriculum that is challenging and fast paced, aimed at producing a positive learning experience that can motivate the pupils via impressive success and academic achievements. The programme is designed for pupils with eight or more failing grades, who perceive themselves as being incapable of achieving anything and who have no motivation to learn. In 2000, the programme took place in 130 schools.

Figure 9

Source: Ministry of Education.

Figure 10

Figure 11

Source: Ministry of Education.

Differential benefits programme. There has been no notable change since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

(c)Specific programmes of assistance offered to specified population groups

Children with learning and other disabilities

The number of students in the special education system decreased due to integration programmes, which integrate children with disabilities into the regular education system. The number of schooling hours available in the special education system increased. Moreover, the increase in resources allocated to special education has continued and in the 2000 budget NIS 1.7 billion (approximately $400 million) was allocated for this purpose.

In 2000, there were approximately 35,000 pupils aged 3-21 years in the various special education frameworks. In addition, about 90,000 pupils were integrated into the regular school system, but received special assistance from special education resources. It should be noted that from 1994 to 2000, the number of pupils in Israel enrolled in special education has declined by about 3,000 pupils.

Figure 12

Source: Ministry of Education.

Access for students with disabilities to schools

Ever since 1994, local authorities must provide certified architectural plans regarding schools that include four main elements which concern people with disabilities:

New schools must have ramps and elevator shafts, for easier access;

The first floor must contain a lavatory, especially designed for people with disabilities;

In existing schools, the local authorities must ask for assistance from the Ministry of Education for installing special equipment to help people with disabilities to move up and down stairs;

Towards the beginning of the school year, the school management must place students with disabilities in classes in the first floor.

Access to laboratories and libraries still constitutes a problem.

(d)Arab and Druze sectors

The reported gap between the Arab and Druze pupils and their Jewish counterparts is still evident. These sectors receive relatively higher rates of construction budgets as mentioned earlier. Furthermore, the five-year programme begun in 1991 has ended after narrowing, but not closing, the gap. The Ministry of Education has therefore put affirmative action at the head of its agenda. In 1999, the Ministry of Education embarked on a new five-year programme and other activities. These are intended to equalize the educational and budgetary standards of these sectors to that of the Jewish education sector.

The Ministry of Education has allocated an extra budget of NIS 250 million (approximately $62.5 million), over a period of five years, beginning in the year 2000. A steering committee for the programme has determined a basic programme for its application, based on the recommendations of three different committees.

The programme’s main goals include:

Increasing the number of pupils eligible for matriculation;

Reducing drop-outs;

Increasing the amount of teaching classes;

Improving the psychological assistance and the counselling sector;

Improving the special education;

Improving the technological education;

Training the teaching, psychological and counselling staff.

The programme operated in the following areas in the year 2000:

It upgraded 1,526 computer stations;

It gave scientific equipment to kindergartens and primary education schools;

It increased the number of pupils eligible for matriculation;

It developed curricula;

It trained teaching staff.

This part of the report shows that significant discrepancies still exist between the Arab sector and the rest of the population, especially in post-secondary education. The gaps are even larger when observing only the female population (although there is no gap between female population in other sectors). Among the Arab sector, the number of students attaining matriculation is about half that of the Jewish sector, and among these only a quarter apply to universities. Among the Jewish population, only about 5.5 per cent do not work or study, compared to 14.3 per cent in the Arab population. Only about 25 per cent of the Arab sector study in technological education, compared to about 30 per cent in the rest of the population. Half of the classes in Arab technological education are at a level of study not intended to qualify them to take the matriculation examinations.

These gaps are the reason for the policy of affirmative action taken by the Ministry of Education. An example of this affirmative action can be seen in the following chart:

Figure 13

Source: Ministry of Education.

(e)New immigrants

The policies on this issue remain unchanged, and no notable change occurred since the initial report. It should be noted that the Ministry for the Absorption of Immigration has programmes for helping immigrants, especially from Ethiopia, which include additional classes in several subjects. The overall budget for this purpose in the Ministry for the Absorption of Immigration and NGOs, is about NIS 300 million (approximately US$ 75 million).

(f)The Bedouin sector

With regard to the Bedouin population living in unrecognized villages, it should be emphasized that pupils there are entitled to the same level of education as all other pupils in Israel. For obvious reasons, it is impossible to build elementary and high schools in every village, whether recognized or not. Hence, 11 per cent of the pupils of Israel (Jews and non‑Jews) learn in regional schools that serve rural localities. Thus, it is not uncommon that even recognized localities do not have their own local schools. Pupils in the non-Jewish sector who reside in localities that have no recognized municipal status attend schools in recognized localities. However, there are many more logistic difficulties in providing access to schools for pupils from unrecognized villages, since schools are built in accordance with approved zoning plans to meet primarily the needs of the recognized settlements. However, in any case, transportation services to schools are provided for most pupils in unrecognized villages.

Furthermore, the special situation of pupils from unrecognized villages is taken into consideration by the education authorities. The education system allocates extra resources (primarily study hours) to schools whose pupils suffer from environmentally caused academic deficiencies. A special index is used to determine the eligibility of schools to receive such additional resources and one of the criteria of this index in the non-Jewish sector is the inclusion of pupils from unrecognized villages. In other words, the higher the percentage of pupils who come from families that reside in unrecognized villages, the more resources are allocated to the school. Thus, schools with pupils from unrecognized villages receive additional teaching hours which enables them to deal with the specific problems of this population (most notably, poor domestic complementary studying conditions).

All the Bedouin pupils study in 53 primary schools and 10 secondary schools. In the unrecognized villages, there are 15 primary schools and 80 kindergartens for children from the age of three.

The education system in the Bedouin sector faces many difficulties that are partially the result of the Bedouin style of life in a plethora of unplanned settlements and their culture. Girls drop out of school at a young age because they get married or due to tradition. Boys leave the education system early to enter the work force. Polygamy (up to four to five wives per man) raises the birth rate (5 per cent per year), causes irreparable psychological damage to children, as well as unemployment, neglected and destroyed home and low educational achievements. Also, many Bedouin pupils want to receive a completion certificate at the end of 12 years of education, instead of a matriculation certificate. Nevertheless, in recent years there has been a remarkable improvement in the situation of the Bedouin education system. Some evidence:

(a)The number of pupils, and especially female pupils is continually increasing. This means that the phenomenon of dropping out of the school system is continually decreasing;

(b)The educational achievements in primary education have improved during the last two years due to an intensive programme of pedagogical intervention;

(c)A retired Jewish principal has been assigned to each school principal to guide him and instruct him both in the area of education and in management;

(d)A computerized centre has been established to reduce the phenomenon of dropping out of school. There is a computerized follow-up of pupils at risk and much effort is invested in bringing them back to their studies;

(e)Ben-Gurion University and the Kaye College have strengthened the teaching forces in the secondary education system in order to increase the number of pupils who receive matriculation certificates. Over the last three years the number of pupils receiving matriculation certificates has increased from 10 to 32 per cent;

(f)The number of Bedouin teachers in the system continues to increase. Today they constitute 60 per cent of all the teachers in the Bedouin educational sector system in contrast to four years ago when they comprised only 40 per cent of the teachers.

Table 76

Comparative statistics, accordin g to years, in the Bedouin educational sector

Number of pupils

Year	Pupils
1998	40 006
1999	43 741
2000	47 253

Number of teachers

Year	Pupils
1998	1 721
1999	1 881
2000	2 150

Matriculation certificates

Year	Percentage of pupils receiving matriculation certificates
1998	15%
1999	29%
2000	30%

The Bedouin way of life in a plethora of unplanned clusters, and a number of connected factors, have affected the Bedouin educational system. Recently the Ministerial Committee for Arab Affairs decided to establish another 16 permanent villages for Bedouins, in addition to the 7 that already exist. The Ministry of Education has agreed to join this decision and will establish its institutions in these new villages. This has yet to be approved by the Knesset within the budget law for the year 2001.

The Bedouin residents will have to settle in one out of these 23 villages which presently exist or which are to be established. Thus, it is hoped that the phenomenon of the unrecognized villages will disappear.

(g)Specially targeted action

The Ministry of Education has identified 12 municipalities facing special problems in terms of educational achievements, and has developed a special programme involving the participation of the local communities to improve the situation in those targeted towns and villages. Each locality has defined its needs. The subjects were brought up in an inter‑ministerial forum, and subjects were selected.

These include implementation of the Compulsory Education Law, 1949 for children ages 3-4, which means giving free education to these children (as mentioned above), and activating day boarding school centres in kindergartens.

The geographical dispersion of targeted localities include towns in the South (Dimona, Ofakim, Yeruham, Mizpe Ramon, Kiryat Gat, Tel Sheva), in the Centre/Tel Aviv (Ramle, Lod), and in the North (Beit Shean, Upper Nazareth, Acre).

Source: Ministry of Education.

Eastern neighbours of Jerusalem

The Ministry of Education and the municipality of Jerusalem have prepared an integrative programme for the furthering of education in the eastern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem. This programme began in 1999. The goals of this programme are: improving achievements in basic subjects; reducing the drop-out phenomenon; developing a local educational leadership; improving teaching; improving the educational environment, including introducing computers into the classrooms; and closing the gaps in services and posts.

7. Language facilities

As reported in Israel’s initial report, adult new immigrants are offered basic Hebrew language classes in new immigrants’ schools especially created to teach elementary Hebrew language skills. In 1998, 64,600 persons attended such schools. The reduction in the amount of those attending these schools is due to the reduction in the number of immigrants. Other than that, no notable change occurred since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

8. Conditions of teaching staff

There are now approximately 86,000 full-time teachers in all levels of the Israeli primary and secondary system, compared to 80,000 reported in Israel’s initial report. The following table demonstrates their distribution to sectors and school levels:

Table 77

Teaching posts (full-time) in schools, 1999

	Total	Hebrew education	Arab education
Total	85 700	69 800	15 900
Primary Education	41 700	32 900	8 800
Lower Secondary	17 300	14 100	3 200
Upper Secondary	26 700	22 800	3 900

Figure 14

Source: Ministry of Education.

Figure 15

Source: Ministry of Education.

No notable changes have occurred on the issue of teachers’ salaries since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

9. Responsibility for the establishment and administration of schools

No notable changes have occurred on this issue since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Article 15: the right to take part in cultural life and enjoy scientific progress

The right to take part in cultural life: funding

The Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport, which is responsible for promoting culture in Israel, gives direct financial assistance to some 650 cultural and art institutions compared to the figure of 300 reported in Israel’s initial report.

It should be noted that since Israel’s initial report the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport has been reorganized into two Ministries. The first is the Ministry of Education, whose activities were dealt with in article 13 above. The second is the Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport whose activities will be dealt with in the present article.

The budget of the Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport is presented in the following table:

Table 78

Participation of the Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport

in the budgets of cultural institutions (2000)

(According to the budget for the year 2000, in thousands of NIS, and by per cent)

Field of Activity	Budget	Distribution by percentage
Total	375 200	100
Theatres	84 147	22
Music (Orchestras, Operas, Choirs, Institutions)	59 328	16
Museums, plastic arts	32 160	9
Research institutes and cultural centres	22 284	6
Dance	20 272	5
Film	18 338	5
Culture in Jerusalem	15 288	4

Table 78 (continued)

Field of Activity	Budget	Distribution by percentage
Schools of art	14 697	4
Literature journals	13 517	4
Financing the Senior Citizens Law - 1989	12 309	3
Ethnic heritage	12 081	3
Public libraries	10 882	3
Organizational expenditure, acquirements consulting and surveys	10 682	3
Omanut l’Am (“Art for the People” association)	9 576	3
Festivals	8 433	2
Druze and Arab culture	5 886	2
Reserve for Cultural activity	3 860	1
Renovation of cultural structures	3 175	1
Preservation sites	2 986	*
Cultural prizes	2 747	*
Cultural activity in neighbourhoods	2 344	*
Arts and crafts classes for amateurs	1 956	*
Grants and loans to artists	559	*
Israeli culture abroad	500	*

*Total of all the items marked with (*) amount to 4 per cent of the budget.

Table 79

National expenditure on culture, entertainment and sports and its financing by sector, type of expenditure and activity
	Financing sector (a)	Operating sector
Thereof:	Business	Private non ‑profit institutions	Governmental sector
Deficit of non-profit institu tions	Local authorities	Government and national institutions	Households	Grand total	Non-profit institutions	Local authorities	Government and national institutions	Grand total
Percentages	NIS million	Percentages	NIS million
1990	-12.1	15.2	7.3	89.6	100 .0	5 221.8	65.2	8.2	10.4	14.0	2.2	100.0	5 221.8
1991	1.8	16.0	6.5	75.7	100.0	6 625.2	64.9	10.7	8.6	14.0	1.8	100.0	6 625.2
1992	2.1	14.1	6.5	77.3	100.0	8 244.4	65.4	10.3	9.0	13.5	1.9	100.0	8 224.4
1993	2.4	13.6	6.5	77.5	100.0	9 870.9	66.6	8.9	7.5	15.1	1. 8	100.0	9 870.9
1994	4.7	15.8	7.1	72.4	100.0	12 642.4	65.8	9.7	9.3	13.5	1.6	100.0	12 642.4
1995	5.1	14.4	6.1	74.3	100.0	16 406.8	67.7	10.5	8.2	12.0	1.4	100.0	16 406.8
1996	2.8	13.5	5.4	78.3	100.0	18 381.0	67.4	10.3	8.1	13.0	1.2	100.0	18 381.0
1997-Gran d total	4.2	15.7	5.1	75.0	100.0	20 609.6	67.6	10.1	8.0	13.3	1.0	100.0	20 609.6
Current expenditure	4.2	11.3	4.8	79.8	100.0	19 447.7	71.6	10.4	7.8	9.3	0.9	100.0	19 447.7
Cultural heritage	16.6	18.8	15.6	49.0	100.0	782.2	5.4	50.1	38.2	6.7	0.2	100.0	782.2
Literature and printed matter	1.7	8.7	1.8	87.8	100.0	1 310.4	83.9	3.9	1.7	9.4	1.1	100.0	1 310.4
Music and performing arts	10.2	1.2	4.4	84.2	100.0	3 416.7	79.5	15.8	3.8	0.8	0.1	100.0	3 416.7
Visual arts	(32.2)	-	0.1	132.1	100.0	139.5	60.2	5.6	34.2	-	-	100 .0	139.5

Table 79 ( continued )

	Financing sector (a)	Operating sector
Thereof:	Business	Private non ‑profit institutions	Governmental sector
Deficit of non-profit institutions	Local authorities	Government and national institutions	Households	Grand tot al	Non-profit institutions	Local authorities	Government and national institutions	Grand total
Percentages	NIS million	Percentages	NIS million
Cinema and photography	(2.6)	-	3.0	99.6	100.0	1 108.6	98.4	0.4	0.2	-	1.1	100.0	1 108.6
Radio and television	-	-	-	100.0	100.0	4 620.6	100.0	-	-	-	-	100.0	4 620.6
Socio-cultural activities	11.2	35.2	31.4	22.1	100.0	1 696.6	-	14.4	50.3	27.5	7.8	100.0	1 696.6
Sports and games	4.8	8.3	1.2	85.8	100.0	3 444.9	78.8	11.5	3.6	5.6	0.5	100.0	3 444.9
Nature and environme nt	0.8	50.7	1.3	47.2	100.0	1 310.3	23.4	26.6	1.2	48.7	-	100.0	1 310.3
Gambling	-	-	-	100.0	100.0	1 253.7	100.0	-	-	-	-	100.0	1 253.7
General administration on non- apportionable activities	7.1	94.8	1.0	(2.9)	100.0	364.2	-	9.7	7.0	83.3	-	100.0	364.2
Fixe d capital formation	4.5	90.4	10.3	(5.2)	100.0	1 161.9	-	5.4	11.7	80.9	2.0	100.0	161.9

(a) 1995 is the last year for which there are detailed data on financing of national expenditure on culture entertainment and sport.

Table 80

National expenditure on culture, entertainment and sports, by type of expenditure and activity

	National expenditure on culture as a percentage of G.D.P	Fixed capital formation	Thereof:	Current expenditure - total	Grand total
General administration and non-apportionable activities	Gambling	Nature and environment	Sports and games	Socio-cultural activities	Radio and television, cinema and photography	Music and performing arts	Cultural heritage, literature and visual arts
NIS million, at current prices
1997	6.1	1 161.9	364.2	1 253.7	1 310.3	3 444.9	1 696.6	5 729.2	3 416.7	2 232.1	19 447.4	20 609.6
Percentages
1990	5.0	5.4	0.9	6.4	8.1	11.0	12.1	22.8	26.5	12.2	94.1	100.0
1991	4.9	5.4	0.9	6.1	8.3	18.2	12.1	23.3	19.1	1 2.0	94.6	100.0
1992	5.1	5.9	1.1	5.8	8.4	13.7	11.5	23.0	24.2	12.4	94.1	100.0
1993	5.3	6.7	1.9	6.7	7.7	18.1	10.1	25.1	19.1	11.2	93.3	100.0
1994	5.6	5.9	2.0	7.7	7.7	19.1	9.8	25.7	16.8	11.3	94.1	100.0
1995	6.3	4.7	1.8	5.9	6.9	21.5	9.0	26.1	17.1	11.1	95.3	100.0
1996	6.1	5.2	1.9	6.2	7.0	21.3	8.9	25.1	17.2	12.3	94.8	100.0
1997	6.1	5.6	1.9	6.4	6.7	17.7	8.7	29.5	17.6	11.4	94.4	100 .0
NIS million, at 1990 prices
1990		306.3	42.1	313.4	396.9	542.5	592.5	1 121.1	1 304.2	602.9	4 915.6	5 221.9
1991		289.3	47.2	324.3	425.9	660.9	624.7	1 258.9	1 370.7	632.3	5 344.9	5 634.2
1992		423.6	59.6	3 36.0	477.0	687.0	642.5	1 469.5	1 440.4	697.4	5 809.4	6 233.0
1993		489.1	132.2	420.0	529.4	882.4	625.0	1 724.1	1 605.5	713.5	6 632.1	7 121.2
1994		590.2	138.6	550.4	572.3	1 038.1	686.4	2 328.2	1 715.5	772.2	7 531.7	8 121.9
1995		492.8	142.5	507	573.8	1 697.9	719.3	2 690.1	1 473.4	843.9	8 647.9	9 140.7
NIS million, at 1995 prices
1995		774.1	281.1	925	1 080.1	3 361.1	1 404	4 079.8	2 670.3	1 831.3	15 632.7	16 406.8
1996		891.6	293.9	973.2	1 101.7	323.0	1 418.3	4 042.6	2 709.6	1 837.6	15 607.4	16 499.0
1997		969.5	300.8	1 035.5	1 091.4	2 957 6	1 440.2	4 894.7	2 888.7	1 849.2	16 458.1	17 427.6

It can be seen from table 93 that the total national expenditure on culture, recreation and sports has increased considerably. This is true for the years 1993 (the last year for which detailed data was provided in Israel’s initial report) to 1997 (the last year for which there are detailed data on financing of national expenditure). This is also true for most individual cultural activities. Especially noteworthy is the positive change in the national expenditure on culture as a percentage of GDP. Despite this fact, the total budget of the Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport in the year 2000 is significantly less than reported in Israel’s initial report. This is mainly due to the elimination of the Ministry’s financing of the Israel Association of Community Centers. This is due to the reorganization of the Ministry since the initial report (reported at the beginning of this section). Notwithstanding this change in the Ministry’s budget, the major expenditures have seen a mixed tendency.

There has been no notable change in the principal tools and projects for cultural promotion in Israel since the submission of its initial report, in the method of allocation of funds nor in the administrations and bodies acting in these areas in Israel other than those reported in the following paragraphs.

The Loan Fund for Productions programme has been cancelled.

The Omanut l’Am (Art for the People) Association mentioned in the initial report currently sponsors some 6,500 artistic activities held annually in all areas of the arts compared to 12,000 such activities as reported in Israel’s initial report.

The institutional infrastructure of cultural life in Israel

There are now some 1,200 public library facilities in Israel as compared to the 950 reported in Israel’s initial report, as well as school libraries and other libraries throughout the country. The number of museums in Israel has remained relatively unchanged. As reported in Israel’s initial report, many other cultural institutions, in various areas of the arts, although not regulated by law, are actively supported by the State:

Theatres ‑There are 27 established theatre groups in Israel performing in theatres throughout the country as compared to the 21 reported in Israel’s initial report;

Music ‑ There are some 60 music-oriented organizations in Israel, including 24 orchestras, the Israel Opera, 22 choirs, music schools and many other organizations, representing an increase in the number reported in Israel’s initial report;

Dance ‑ 21 dance groups, several dance academies and dance performance centres currently operate in Israel compared to 20 reported in Israel’s initial report;

The plastic arts ‑ No significant change has occurred on this subject since the submission of Israel’s initial report;

Films ‑ In the year 2000, the national Israel Film Council was established in order to fund, guide and promote film-making in Israel. In recent years, approximately 10 feature films and 30 documentary films are being produced annually in Israel;

Literature ‑ The Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport supports 3 more literary periodicals than reported in Israel’s initial report for a total of 23 literary periodicals which are published every year, as well as some 15 literary projects.

The following table shows the positive change in the past few years in cultural and entertainment shows.

Table 81

Cultural and entertainment shows - theatres, orchestras

and dance groupsa

Spectators (thousands)	Runs	Work of art	Shows	Institutions b
Thereof Israeli	Total
Theatres
1991	1 910.4	4 782	50	148	148	11
1992	2 029.8	5 046	65	159	159	11
1993	1 800.4	5 246	91	171	171	13
1994	1 888.6	4 987	73	145	145	12
1995	1 942.1	5 073	81	162	162	12
1996	2 110.8	5 208	107	183	183	12
1997	2 233.4	5 454	100	195	195	12
1998	2 704.3	6 388	147	218	218	16
1999	3 418.2	9 160	215	297	297	31
Orchestra and opera
1991	708.2	852	50	715	303	13
1992	765.0	942	57	743	302	13
1993	1 006.2	937	33	574	285	12
1994	950.8	928	94	894	299	11
1995	1 098.0	1 063	53	803	341	12
1996	1 121.4	1 093	99	905	383	12
1997	1 161.2	961	67	832	311	11
1998	1 324.1	1 042	69	848	313	12
1999	1 203.4	1 546	167	1 400	437	26
Dance groups
1991	311.8	599	69	95	105	8
1992	267.1	504	67	84	58	6
1993	327.7	645	62	91	81	7
1994	314.8	602	68	100	71	7

Table 81 ( continued )

Spectators (thousands)	Runs	Work of art	Shows	Institutions b
Thereof Israeli	Total
1995	399.8	621	75	103	78	7
1996	294.2	628	87	117	108	7
1997	333.6	590	73	103	115	7
1998	413.1	610	50	69	122	8
1999	464.5	838	125	140	129	21

a Source: Centre for Cultural Information and Research.

b Institutions that reported.

Cultural identity and heritage of population groups

As reported in Israel’s initial report, being a multi-cultural society, Israel assists various groups in preserving and promoting their cultural heritage.

Jewish cultural heritage

The annual budgeting allocations for the Ladino and Yiddish languages according to the laws reported in Israel’s initial report currently amounts to approximately NIS 1.6 million, as compared to NIS 750,000 reported in the initial report.

Arab, Druze and Circassian cultural heritage

In the Druze sector, the State supports 3 professional and 3 amateur Druze theatre companies, 2 professional singing ensembles, and 12 representative dance companies, which is a significant increase compared to the figures reported in Israel’s initial report.

Institutions involved in the promotion of cultural identity

There has been no notable change on the subject of museums focusing upon various population groups in Israel or on the subject of universities and research institutes since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

The role of mass media and communication in promoting participation in cultural life

Legislation in the field of mass communications exists in a number of spheres. The Broadcasting Authority Law, 1965 regulates the activities of the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), now responsible for 2 TV channels and 10 radio channels. The IBA now also broadcasts in a satellite channel, which mainly airs the sessions of the Israeli parliament (the Knesset) and its committees.

The Second Authority for Television and Radio Law, 1990 was amended in March 2000 to make it possible to establish another commercial TV channel (hereafter: “The Third Channel”), in addition to the “Second Channel” reported in Israel’s initial report, under the supervision of “Second Authority” (reported in the initial report). In 2000, the Second Authority for Television and Radio published a tender in search of prospective franchisers for the operation of an additional commercial channel (“the Third Television Channel”). The projected time for the beginning of the broadcasts of the Third Channel is the last quarter of the year 2001.

In addition, the said amendment has increased the amount of Israeli productions required in the broadcasts of the Second Channel to at least 40 per cent of all broadcasts (section 59a of the Law) compared to the current requirement of one third of all broadcasts.

In addition, the amendment has established a requirement for broadcasting programmes in the Arabic and Russian languages, through speech or translation. The required figure is not less than 50 per cent of the total broadcasts for each language (section 4 of the amendment). The amendment has also changed the Second Authority’s functions and duties. They now include catering to the needs of the Arabic-speaking sector, promoting peace and understanding with neighbouring countries and to give a proper venue to the cultural diversity of the Israeli society (section 5 of the Second Authority Law).

There has been no notable change in the “Bezeq” Law, 1982 since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

No notable change has occurred on the subjects of Educational Television, the Open University, foreign TV channels broadcasting in Israel through cable channel satellite and the Internet since the submission of Israel’s initial report. No notable change has occurred on the subject of newspapers and similar, since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Preservation and display of mankind’s cultural heritage

No change has occurred on this subject since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Freedom of artistic creation and performance

No change has occurred on this subject since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Professional education in culture and art

There are currently 21 professional post-secondary art schools, recognized by the Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport, which provide training in a variety of the artistic areas, as compared to 14 reported in Israel’s initial report. Certain universities and colleges offer study programmes in the administration of cultural institutions, besides other programmes reported in Israel’s initial report.

Other measures for conservation, development and diffusion of culture

No change has occurred on this subject since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

International cultural cooperation

There are currently 35 public festivals held in Israel annually, compared to 30 reported in the initial report. Some of these festivals include the participation of many artistic groups from abroad.

Status of the Arabic language

Hebrew and Arabic are the official languages of the State of Israel (section 82, King’s Order in Council on Palestine, 1922). This is also reflected in several provisions in Israeli law, which mandate the use of the two languages, cumulatively or alternatively in public life.

There have been four major changes in the status of the Arabic language since the submission of Israel’s initial report:

(a)Official documents: Under directive number 21.556A of the Attorney‑General, concerning the translation of official documents from Arabic, it is prohibited to demand that a citizen must translate into Hebrew an official document, which is in the Arabic language, such as a marriage certificate or a divorce certificate, as long as the certificate was issued by an authority which is recognized by the State of Israel. In addition, the Attorney‑General’s directive prescribes that the Government must now make its legal forms available in both Hebrew and Arabic;

(b)Vehicle licence plates: Under a specific directive issued by the Attorney‑General to the Ministry of Transportation, new car licence plates may carry the name of the State of Israel in Arabic as well as in Hebrew. The aims of the new directive are to emphasize the official status of the Arabic language in Israel, as well as to increase consciousness of the needs of minorities in Israel;

(c)Publication of public tenders in Arabic: the Attorney‑General has directed all the legal advisors in the civil service that all public tenders are to published in both an Arabic‑language newspaper and a Hebrew one, as well as to be made available on the Internet. The directive stresses that it is prohibited to distinguish between public tenders according to their relevance to the Arab sector. Furthermore, the duty to translate the public tenders into Arabic rests on the Government;

(d)The Second Authority for Television and Radio Law, 1990 - The 2000 amendment of the law, already mentioned above, established a requirement for broadcasting programmes in the Arabic and Russian languages, through speech or translation. The required figure is not less than 50 per cent of the total broadcasts for each language (section 4 of the amendment), as reported above in this article in the section on the Second Authority for Television and Radio Law, 1990.

The enjoyment of scientific progress

Institutional promotion of research and development

The Ministerial Committee for Science and Technology and the Chief Scientists Forum are now headed by the Minister of Science, Culture and Sport. The implementation of Israel’s research and development policy is divided between three different ministries:

Basic research is now under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education. The general basic research budgeting policy is not decided by the ministry itself, but rather by an independent Council for Higher Education, as reported in Israel’s initial report;

Strategic-generic research and development is supervised by the Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport;

Applied industrial research and development is under the authority of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, as reported in Israel’s initial report.

The national research and development budget

No significant change occurred on this subject since the submission of Israel’s initial report, as seen in the following tables.

Table 82

Expenditure of Government ministries on civilian research and development

by type of expenditure *

Year	Transfers	Purchases of civilian R & D	Intramural expenses	Total
Current expenses	Wages	Total
	NIS million, at current prices
1990	335	33	61	67	128	436
1991	443	33	63	81	150	532
1992	530	45	81	91	172	747
1993	727	41	76	110	188	956
1994	347	53	122	164	286	1 286
1995	1 133	54	113	175	288	1 457
1996	1 227	56	190	171	361	1 644
1997	1 588	64	181	170	351	2 003
1998	1 718	51	160	187	347	2 116
1999	2 111	69	179	196	375	2 554

* Source: The Central Bureau of Statistics.

Table 83

National expenditure on civilian research and development,

by operating and financing sector *

	Operating sector
Private non-profit institutions	Higher education (1)	Government	Business	Total
At current prices 1997
Total - NIS million	556	2 346	972	6 920	10 794
- %	5.2	21.7	9.0	64.1	100.0
Financing sector
Business	0.6	1.0	. .	54.3	55.9
Government	2.7	12.6	7.9	9.8	33.0
Higher education (1)	0.1	3.2	. .	. .	3.3
Private non-profit inst.	0.7	1.1	0.3	. .	2.2
Rest of the world	1.0	3.9	0.8	. .	5.7
	NIS million, at 1989 prices
1990R	173	678	245	1 224	2 319
1991R	176	706	265	1 389	2 536
1992R	180	748	292	1 513	2 733
1993R	205	781	292	1 643	2 921
1994R	200	812	282	1 849	3 143
1995R	224	842	276	1 938	3 280
1996R	223	863	301	2 190	3 577
1997R*	230	903	294	2 369	3 796
1998*	243	945	299	2 559	4 046
1999*	252	992	299	2 818	4 361
	% change (2) on previous year
1990R	5.7	6.5	-5.8	1.5	2.4
1991R	1.8	4.2	8.2	13.5	9.3
1992R	2.3	5.9	10.2	8.9	7.8
1993R	13.9	4.4	0.0	8.6	6.9
1994R	-2.4	4.0	-3.4	12.5	7.6
1995R	12.0	3.7	-2.1	4.8	4.4
1996R	-0.4	2.5	9.1	13.0	9.1
1997R*	3.1	4.6	-2.3	8.2	6.1
1998R*	5.7	4.7	1.7	8.0	6.6
1999*	3.7	5.0	0.0	10.1	7.8

* Source: The Central Bureau of Statistics.

Table 84

Expenditure on separately budgeted research in universities

by scientific field, institution and source of funding

At 1997-1998 prices

	1997/98	1995/96	1993/94	1992/93
NIS million
Total (1)	813.2	767.5	743.4	674.5
	Percentages
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Scientific field
Natural sciences and mathematics	52.0	49.3	54.7	53.4
Engineering and architecture	12.8	12.0	12.2	13.0
Agriculture	5.5	5.0	4.7	5.7
Medicine and paramedical courses	6.4	6.6	8.5	8.6
Social sciences and other	23.3	27.1	19.9	19.3
Institution
The Hebrew University	30.2	31.6	31.5	32.3
Technion R & D Foundation	12.3	14.4	13.9	14.7
Tel Aviv University	16.3	13.5	15.4	12.8
Bar-Ilan University	6.7	6.9	4.8	4.2
Haifa University	3.6	2.9	0.7	0.9
Ben Gurion University of the Negev	10.6	10.4	12.2	12.4
Weizmann Institute of Science	20.5	20.2	21.5	22.8
Source of financing
Internal sources - total	20.4	22.3	20.5	21.6
External sources - total	79.6	77.7	79.5	78.4
Israel - total	54.2	53.3	50.8	46.6
Public	35.2	39.0	32.0	29.5
Business	7.5	5.3	7.9	8.0
Private - non-profit institutions	2.1	2.3	4.8	2.2
Universities	0.9	1.2	0.8	1.2
Long-term national funds	6.6	4.9	4.0	4.6
Unknown	1.9	0.7	1.2	1.1
Abroad	15.2	13.6	17.8	20.3
Bi-national funds	10.2	10.8	10.9	11.3

Source: The Central Bureau of Statistics.

Support of scientific activity and dissemination of scientific knowledge

Special projects

The Government of Israel still supports several programmes designed to promote unique scientific activity and disseminate scientific knowledge.

Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport projects

No change has occurred on this subject since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Ministry of Trade and Industry projects

No notable change has occurred on this subject since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

The Agricultural Research Administration

No notable change has occurred on this subject since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Research grants and scholarships

No notable change has occurred on this subject since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Publications

No notable change has occurred on this subject since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Freedom of scientific research and creative activity

No notable change has occurred on this subject since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

International cooperation

No notable change has occurred on this subject since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

The legal protection given to intellectual property

No notable change has occurred on this subject since the submission of Israel’s initial report.

Notes