My wife and I are planning a trip to Israel later this month. We also were there in 1980 and a couple of times since 2000. I have been thinking about my impressions about what changed between 1980 and 2000.
1. The economy improved a lot. In 1980, I remember seeing a concerned look on an Israeli’s face when my wife used her dryer, because of the electricity it was consuming. In fact, infrastructure like electricity and telephone service seemed to be at third-world levels.
2. There was hyperinflation in 1980. Around that time, Stanley Fischer advised the government to tighten its budget and issue a new currency that would have stable value. This approach saved the country.
3. By 2000, Israel was clearly a first-world economy.
4. By 2000, Israeli society was much more fractured. Income differences were considerably wider. The division between secular and religious Israelis was sharper. Differences among Israelis of European origin, Russian origin, and Middle Eastern origin seemed more pronounced.
5. In 1980, Israeli Arabs, meaning Arabs living within the pre-1967 borders, were visible everywhere. They appeared to be integrated into the society as a whole. That is no longer the case. Some of the de facto segregation is due to the intifada. But some of it may reflect the same forces that are increasing class segregation in America. When I spoke in St. Louis last March, I pointed out that 50 years ago if you sat in box seats at old Sportsman’s Park, you were as likely to be sitting next to a blue-collar worker as a white-collar worker. Now, if you were to sit anywhere other than the remote outfield seats you would not be among blue-collar workers. Or, to take another illustration, consider the disconnect between typical college-educated Americans and supporters of Donald Trump.
6. In 1980, Israel still controlled Gaza, and we visited settlements there. The Arabs living there were the poorest people I had ever seen–starving and dressed in rags. I have not been back to Gaza, so I have no idea how things have changed. I certainly hope that there has been at least some improvement.
7. In 1980, the Arabs of East Jerusalem seemed well-dressed, animated, and cultured. There was genuine economic activity and commerce. My sense is that since then among those Arabs, there has been a decline. Certainly spiritually, if not materially. Some of that you might attribute to the Israeli occupation. But I think that East Jerusalem and the West Bank are in a sense victims of a double occupation. In 1994, the Olso accords imposed on the Arabs there a Palestinian Authority which was not really indigenous. Yasser Arafat and his government were outsiders, and their control reduced the status that had been achieved by the local Arabs that made an impression on me in 1980. The way to obtain a living changed from one of commerce to one of control over the disbursement of foreign aid.
I don’t see much discussion in the press of the impact of the imposition of the Palestinian Authority on Arab society in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Perhaps my casual impressions are wrong. But I wonder whether this second layer of foreign occupation is what did the most significant damage to the economy and the morale there.
Meanwhile, the fraction of Israelis who are militant and extremist has grown over the last 15 years.
Regarding “blue-collar” workers–some of them now make more than college professors.
At this point, I simply wish Israel would simply call it a one state and then they will have to deal with assimilation of the society. My guess is the religious differences are going to get worse before they get better. There is no way the occupied territory can economic thrive if they were independent.
2016 : Israel has a first rate infrastructure – roads, ports, communications, energy, water. There are no more Israeli Arab “fallahs” (subsistence farmers), the villages are now cities and people works in industrial areas and services. The elite – politics, business, academia – is now ethnically diverse. Muslims as well Jews are more religious. Many children.
“I have not been back to Gaza, so I have no idea how things have changed. I certainly hope that there has been at least some improvement.”
I have never been to Gaza so I obviously have no way of knowing anything about them. I’m sure those noble Gazans have become enriched through trade with their first-world neighbor.
there are two observations you made that seem wrong to me as a native
A) “Differences among Israelis of European origin, Russian origin, and Middle Eastern origin seemed more pronounced. ”
really? is that a personal impression? based on what?
B)”In 1980, Israeli Arabs, meaning Arabs living within the pre-1967 borders, were visible everywhere. They appeared to be integrated into the society as a whole. That is no longer the case.”
is it possible that you got the impression that arabs are less visible because by now there are very few arabs that still dress differently?
I went through Gaza on a bus (on the way to the Sinai) in 1979, and I also recall viewing dire poverty there at that time. But what was your basis for believing that the people were “starving” when you were there in 1980? Did they look like the Africans shown in ads for Feed the Children? Do you know of any statistical evidence that there was a food shortage in Gaza during Israel’s occupation? “Starving” is not a word that should be thrown around casually.
Like konshtok above, I have no idea what you mean when you say that Israeli Arabs appear less “integrated” into Israeli society today than in 1980. I was last in Israel in 1985, but your statement is inconsistent with everything else I’ve read about Israel Arabs in the years since. Considering that, aside from people who wear religious clothing (chiefly Muslim women and the minority of Israeli Jews who are orthodox), Arabs do not look physically different from Israeli Jews of Middle Eastern heritage, isn’t it possible that your impression is mistaken? Also, if your standard for integration is, say, the integration of the descendants of Irish and Italian immigrants into American society, Israeli Arabs were never, and are unlikely ever to be, “integrated” in this sense.
When we took trash to dump and Gazans ran to follow our cart and pick through the garbage for moldy bread. I take that as evidence that they were starving
Pretty bad if that’s what they were doing. Are you sure they weren’t looking for metal?
Thanks.
I look forward to hearing your impressions from your upcoming trip.
The “Conversation” piece to which you link as support for the claim that “the fraction of Israelis who are militant and extremist has grown over the last 15 years” is written by a professor of “peace studies.” I would regard such a person’s analysis of issues affecting Israel as dubious.