Racism in Israel

Racism in Israel has been experienced by both Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews. The Israeli government and many groups within Israel have undertaken efforts to combat discrimination, and have denied some instances of racism. Israel has one of the broadest anti-discrimination laws of any country, which prohibits discrimination by both government and nongovernment entities on the basis of race, religion, and political beliefs, and prohibits incitement to racism.

Organizations such as Amnesty International, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), the Israeli government-appointed Or Commission, and the United States Department of State have published reports that document racism and discrimination directed towards racial and ethnic groups in Israel. Ethiopian Jews have faced discrimination. However, their absorption into Israeli society, has also been cited as a unique attempt to incorporate a nonwhite group as equal citizens with full rights as part of a Western predominantly white country.

Racism by Israeli Jews

See also anti-Arabism in Israel

Racism against Arabs on the part of the Israeli state and some Israeli Jews has been identified by critics in personal attitudes, the media, education, immigration rights, housing segregation, and social life. Nearly all such characterizations have been denied by the state of Israel. The Or Commission, set up to explain the October 2000 unrest in many Israeli Arab communities found,

"The state and generations of its government failed in a lack of comprehensive and deep handling of the serious problems created by the existence of a large Arab minority inside the Jewish state. Government handling of the Arab sector has been primarily neglectful and discriminatory. The establishment did not show sufficient sensitivity to the needs of the Arab population, and did not take enough action in order to allocate state resources in an equal manner. The state did not do enough or try hard enough to create equality for its Arab citizens or to uproot discriminatory or unjust phenomenon."

According to the 2004 U.S. State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for Israel and the Occupied Territories, the Israeli government had done "little to reduce institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against the country's Arab citizens." The 2005 US Department of State report on Israel wrote: "[T]he government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were problems in some areas, including... institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against the country’s Arab citizens." Former Likud MK and Minister of Defense Moshe Arens has criticized the treatment of minorities in Israel, saying that they did not bear the full obligation of Israeli citizenship, nor were they extended the full privileges of citizenship.

Israel is a state-party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. According to the 1998 Report of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination found that the Convention "is far from fully implemented in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and that the shortfall contributes very significantly to the dangerous escalation of tension in the region.". The report positively noted the measures taken by Israel to prohibit the activities of racist political parties, the amendment of the Equal Opportunity in Employment Law, prohibiting discrimination in the labour sphere on the grounds of national ethnic origin, country of origin, beliefs, political views, political party, affiliation or age, and the Israeli efforts to reduce and eventually eradicate the economic and educational gap between the Jewish majority and the Arab minority.

Polls

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) published reports documenting racism in Israel, and the 2007 report suggested that anti-Arab racism in the country was increasing. Israeli minister charged the poll as biased and not credible. The Israeli government spokesman responded that the Israeli government was "committed to fighting racism whenever it raises it ugly head and is committed to full equality to all Israeli citizens, irrespective of ethnicity, creed or background, as defined by our declaration of independence". One analysis of the report summarized it thus: "Over two-thirds Israeli teens believe Arabs to be less intelligent, uncultured and violent. Over a third of Israeli teens fear Arabs all together....The report becomes even grimmer, citing the ACRI's racism poll, taken in March of 2007, in which 50% of Israelis taking part said they would not live in the same building as Arabs, will not befriend, or let their children befriend Arabs and would not let Arabs into their homes." The 2008 report from ACRI says the trend of increasing racism is continuing., However, Isi Leibler of the Jerusalem Center for Public affairs argues that Israeli Jews are troubled by "increasingly hostile, even treasonable outbursts by Israeli Arabs against the state" while it is at war with neighboring countries, and are genuinely worried, not racists.

An October 2010 poll by the Dahaf polling agency found that 36% of Israeli Jews favor eliminating voting rights for non-Jews. In recent polling (2003–2009) between 42% and 56% of Israelis agreed that "Israeli Arabs suffer from discrimination as opposed to Jewish citizens;" 80% of Israeli Arabs agreed with that statement in 2009.

In the media

Some authors, such as David Hirsi and Ayala Emmet, have criticized the Israeli media for portraying Arabs negatively. The Israeli media has been described as "racist" in its portrayals of Arabs and Palestinians by Israeli Arab Nabilia Espanioly

Education system

See also: Education in Israel

Israel is a signatory of the Convention against Discrimination in Education, and ratified it in 1961. The convention has the status of law in Israeli courts. Israeli Pupils’ Rights Law of 2000, prohibit discrimination of students for sectarian reasons in admission to or expulsion from educational institutions, in establishment of separate educational curricula or holding of separate classes in the same educational institution.

According to a 2001 report by Human Rights Watch, Israel's school systems for Arab and Jewish children are separate and have unequal conditions to the disadvantage of the Arab children who make up one quarter of all students. The law does not prohibit Palestinian Arab parents from enrolling their children in Jewish schools, but in practice, very few Palestinian Arab parents do so. International law permits the maintenance of separate educational systems for religious or linguistic reasons as long as participation in such systems is optional. The report further stated: "Government-run Arab schools are a world apart from government-run Jewish schools. In virtually every respect, Palestinian Arab children get an education inferior to that of Jewish children, and their relatively poor performance in school reflects this." In 1999, in an attempt to close the gap between Arab and Jewish education sectors, the Education Minister of Israel announced an affirmative action policy which promised that Arabs would be granted 25% of the education budget, proportionally more funding than their 18% of the population, and supported the creation of an Arab academic college.

A 2009 study from the Hebrew University's School of Education demonstrated that the Israeli Education Ministry's budget for special assistance to students from low socioeconomic backgrounds "severely" discriminated against Arabs. The study found that because there were more needy Arab students, but fewer Arab students overall, educationally needy Jewish students receive anywhere from 3.8 to 6.9 times as much funding as equally needy Arab students. The Education Ministry said in response to the report that a decision has already been made to abandon this allocation method. The Follow-Up Committee for Arab Education notes that the Israeli government spends an average of $192 per year on each Arab student compared to $1,100 per Jewish student. The drop-out rate for Arab citizens of Israel is twice as high as that of their Jewish counterparts (12 percent versus 6 percent). The same group also notes that there is a 5,000-classroom shortage in the Arab sector.

A 2007 report of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination noted that separate sectors are maintained for Jewish and Arab eduction. It recommended that Israel should assess the extent to which maintenance of separate Arab and Jewish sectors "may amount to racial segregation", and that mixed Arab-Jewish communities and schools, and intercultural education should be promoted. In a 2008 report Israel responded that parents are entitled to enroll their children in the educational institution of their choice, whether the spoken language is Hebrew, Arabic or bilingual. It also noted that Israel promotes a variety of programs that promote intercultural cooperation, tolerance and understanding

Employment

See also: Israel Defense Forces § Bedouins and Israeli Arabs

The Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU) asserts that Arabs are denied employment in Israel's defense industry, in the Israeli army, and in some government agencies. Because Arabs do not serve in the Army, they cannot receive benefits that are given to Army veterans, such as greater housing loans, partial exemptions from fees in state-run occupational training courses, and preferences in public employment, educational loans, and on-campus housing.

Although Arabs are not obligated to serve in IDF any Arab could and does serve in Israeli Army. A Muslim Arab woman is currently serving as a medic with unit 669.

Cpl. Elinor Joseph from Haifa has became a first Arab combat soldier for IDF. Elinor says:

...there was a Katyusha [rocket] that fell near my house and also hurt Arabs. If someone would tell me that serving in the IDF means killing Arabs, I remind them that Arabs also kill Arabs.

Rather than perform army service, Israeli Arab youths have the option to volunteer to national service and receive benefits similar to those received by discharged soldiers. The volunteers are generally allocated to Arab populations, where they assist with social and community matters. As of 2010 there are 1,473 Arabs volunteering for national service. According to sources in the national service administration, Arab leaders are counseling youths to refrain from performing services to the state. According to a National Service official, "For years the Arab leadership has demanded, justifiably, benefits for Arab youths similar to those received by discharged soldiers. Now, when this opportunity is available, it is precisely these leaders who reject the state's call to come and do the service, and receive these benefits".

Land ownership

Main article: Israeli Arabs § Property ownership and housing

The Jewish National Fund is a private organization established in 1901 to buy and develop land in the Land of Israel for Jewish settlement; land purchases were funded by donations from world Jewry exclusively for that purpose.

Discrimination has been claimed regarding ownership and leasing of land in Israel, because approximately 13% of Israel's land, owned by the Jewish National Fund, is restricted to Jewish ownership and tenancy, and Arabs are prevented from buying or leasing that land.

Zionism

See also: Zionism § Allegations of racism

Some critics of Israel equate Zionism with racism, or describe Zionism itself as racist or discriminatory. In 1975, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 3379, which concluded that "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination." During debate on the resolution, U.S. ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan argued that Zionism "clearly is not a form of racism," defining racism as "an ideology... which favors discrimination on the grounds of alleged biological differences." The resolution was revoked by Resolution 46/86 on December 16, 1991. Speaking to the General Assembly, George H. W. Bush said "...to equate Zionism with the intolerable sin of racism is to twist history and forget the terrible plight of Jews in World War II and indeed throughout history." Supporters of Zionism argue that the movement is non-discriminatory and contains no racist aspects.

Journalist Ron Rosenbaum analyzed the claim of racism associated with Zionism made by Portuguese author José Saramago who wrote: "Israel wants all of us to feel guilty, directly or indirectly, for the horrors of the holocaust; Israel wants us to renounce the most elemental critical judgment and for us to transform ourselves into a docile echo of its will. Israel, in short, is a racist state by virtue of Judaism's monstrous doctrines – racist not just against Palestinians, but against the entire world, which it seeks to manipulate and abuse. Israel's struggles with its neighbors, seen in that light, do take on a unique and even metaphysical quality of genuine evil…".

Chosen People

Some critics assert that racism against non-Jewish ethnicities in Israel is rationalized by the religious precept that Jews are the chosen people. The Anti-Defamation League and other authorities assert that the concept of chosen people within Judaism has nothing to do with racial superiority, but rather is a description of the special relationship between God and Jews.

Law of return controversy

See also: Law of return § Controversy

Some critics of Israel have described the Law of return as racist because it discriminates against Arabs. Palestinians and advocates for Palestinian refugee rights criticize the Law of Return, which they compare to the Palestinian claim to a right of return. These critics consider the Law, as contrasted against the denial of the right of Palestinian refugees to return, as offensive and as institutionalized ethnic discrimination.

Supporters of the Law argue that it is consistent with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination Article I(3) which allows for preferential treatments of some groups for purpose of immigration, provided there is no discrimination against a specific nationality.

In addition, proponents of the law point out that in addition to Israel, several other countries provide immigration privileges to individuals with ethnic ties to these countries. Examples include Germany, Serbia, Greece, Japan, Turkey, Ireland, Russia, Italy, Spain, Chile, Poland and Finland (See Right of return and Repatriation laws.) Some supporters noted that the decision by the Venice Commission recognized the relationship between ethnic minorities and their kin-states as legitimate and even desirable, and preference in immigration and naturalization is mentioned as an example of legitimate preference.

In response to Arab criticism of Israel's Law of Return as discriminatory in a 1975 United Nations resolution debate, Israelis argued that Palestinian Israelis were not subject to any legal discrimination.

Oath of allegiance

On 10 October 2010 the Israeli cabinet voted in favor of an amendment to the Citizenship Act requiring all future non-Jews applying for Israeli citizenship to swear loyalty to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. The bill must still pass a vote in the Knesset in order to become law. Some opponents have compared the law with 1935 Nuremberg racist laws that targetted German Jews.

In October 2010, over 100 Israeli artists, writers and intellectuals, demonstrated in Tel-Aviv against the loyalty oath, among them Hanna Maron, a famous Israeli actress and theatre personality. During the demonstration, Israeli author Sefi Rachlevsky said "a country that invades the sacred space of the citizen's conscience, and punishes him for opinions and beliefs that are not in line with the authorities … ceases to be a democracy and becomes a fascist state." Another protester, Israeli educational psychologist Prof. Gavriel Solomon clarified :

...some might say 'how can you compare us to Nazis'. I am not talking about the death camps, but about the year 1935. There were no camps yet but there were racist laws. And we are heading forward towards these kinds of laws.

Opinions of the proposed amendment in Israel were divided. Some commentators defended it because it reinforces Israel's aspirations as a Jewish and democratic state, as expressed in its declaration of independence, and as a part of a larger campaign to secure recognition for Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people. Other commentators condemned the proposal as "racist", since Jews were exempt from the oath.

On October 18, following pressure from his cabinet and the public, Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered Justice Minister Ya'akov Ne'eman to make amendments which make the loyalty oath universal to both Jewish and non-Jewish naturalized citizens. This inclusion of Jewish immigrants was supported by the Anti-Defamation League.

Marriage

Israel's Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law bars immigration by family reunification to couples of an Israeli citizen and a resident of the Israeli-occupied territories. Amnesty International says this mostly affects Arabs. The law has been condemned by Amnesty International as "racial discrimination". The government says the law say it is aimed at preventing terrorist attacks. Some leaders of the Kadima party support the law in order to "preserve the state's Jewish character."

Religious racism

In October 2010, Ovadia Yosef, a former Sephardi chief rabbi, stated that "The sole purpose of non-Jews is to serve Jews". He argued that gentiles served a divine purpose: "Why are gentiles needed? They will work, they will plow, they will reap. We will sit like an effendi and eat. That is why gentiles were created."

Rabbi David Batsri called Arabs "a blight, a devil, a disaster... donkeys, and we have to ask ourselves why God didn't create them to walk on all fours. Well, the answer is that they are needed to build and clean." The Israeli state prosecution ordered an investigation of the Rabbi, for suspected incitement to racism.

Dov Lior, Chief Rabbi of Hebron and Kiryat Arba in the southern West Bank and head of the "Council of Rabbis of Judea and Samaria" issued a religious edict saying "a thousand non-Jewish lives are not worth a Jew's fingernail" and stated that captured Arab terrorists could be used to conduct medical experiments, and also ruled that Jewish Law forbids employing Arabs or renting homes to them.

Incidents

The Mossawa Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel reported a tenfold increase in racist incidents against Arabs in 2008. Jerusalem reported the highest number of incidents. The report blames Israeli leaders for the violence, saying "These attacks are not the hand of fate, but a direct result of incitement against the Arab citizens of this country by religious, public, and elected officials."

In 2005, AWOL IDF soldier Eden Natan-Zada opened fire on a bus in the predominantly Arab city of Shfar'Am, killing four and injuring twenty-two.

The Bedouin claim they face discrimination and have submitted a counter-report to the United Nations that disputes the Israeli Government's official state report. They claim they are not treated as equal citizens in Israel and that Bedouin towns are not provided the same level of services or land that Jewish towns of the same size are and they are not given fair access to water. The city of Be'er Sheva refused to recognize a Bedouin holy site, despite a High Court recommendation.

Racism in soccer stadiums is a worldwide problem, and Israeli stadiums are not free from racism. The first racist incidents took place in the 1970s, when the Arab player Jimmy Turk joined Hapoel Tel Aviv. Turk was subjected to anti-Arab abuse during nearly every game he played. Under Israeli law, soccer fans can be prosecuted for incitement of racial hatred. The "New Voices from the Stadium" program, run by the New Israel Fund (NIF) amasses a "racism index" that is reported to the media on a weekly basis, and teams have been fined and punished for the conduct of their fans. According to Steve Rothman, the NIF San Francisco director, "Things have definitely improved, particularly in sensitizing people to the existence of racism in Israeli society." In 2006, Israel joined Football Against Racism in Europe(FARE), network set up to counter racism in soccer.

Abbas Zakour, an Arab Member of the Knesset, was stabbed by a gang of Russian immigrants shouting anti-Arab chants. The attack was part of a "stabbing rampage" and was described as a "hate crime".

Racism by Israeli-Arabs

Towards Jews

Polls

A 2009 PEW poll, which included 527 Israeli Arab respondents, showed that 35 percent of Israeli Arabs said their opinion of Jews was unfavorable, while 56% said their opinion was favorable (the figures amongst Israeli Jews on their attitude to themselves were 94% favorable; 6% unfavorable).

A 2009 poll found that 40.5% of the Arab citizens of Israel denied the Holocaust, up from 28% in 2006.

Incidents

In 2010, a Jewish security guard bought a home in the predominantly Arab village of I'billin, but was driven from his home several days later by death threats.

In 2010, the wall of a synagogue and a Jewish residence in the mixed Jewish-Arab Ajami neighborhood of Jaffa were sprayed with swastikas and Palestinian flags.

Leadership

Journalist Ben-Meir described Arab Knesset members who "talk incessantly about the Palestinian people's rights, including their own state" but who "refuse to acknowledge Israel as the state of the Jewish people and deny the very existence of a Jewish people as a nation with national rights" as racist. Ariel Natan Pasko, a policy analyst, suggested that prominent Arab leaders such as Arab member of Knesset A. Tibi is racist because he "turned away from integration" and "wants to build an Arab university in Nazareth, as well as an Arab hospital in the Galilee."

The head of the Islamic movement in Israel's Northern Branch, was charged with incitement to racism and to violence. During legal proceedings, the prosecution said that Sheikh Raed Salah made his inflammatory remarks "with the objective of inciting racism." he also accused Jews of using children's blood to bake bread. He said, ""We have never allowed ourselves to knead [the dough for] the bread that breaks the fast in the holy month of Ramadan with children's blood," he said. "Whoever wants a more thorough explanation, let him ask what used to happen to some children in Europe, whose blood was mixed in with the dough of the [Jewish] holy bread."

In Umm el-Fahm – the heartland of the Islamic Movement’s Northern Branch, Salah is a hero, “Salah is our leader, not just here, but for all the Arabs in Israel.” explained an Arab resident. His movement is a faction of the regional Muslim Brotherhood.

Arab-Jewish race riots

During the Arab riots in October 2000 events, Arab-Israelis rioted while protesting Israeli actions in the early stages of the Second Intifada, attacking Jewish civilians and Israeli police with live gunfire, molotov cocktails, stones, and vandalism of Jewish property. A Jewish citizen was killed when his car was stoned, and a synagogue was torched. Hundreds of Arab residents of Jaffa burned tires, threw rocks, and beat reporters.

Thousands of Jews counter-rioted in Nazareth, Bat Yam, Petah Tikva, Tiberias, Tel Aviv, Acre, and Jerusalem, throwing stones at and beating Arabs, vandalizing and torching Arab homes and property, torching a mosque and vandalizing another, attacking Arab traffic, and chanting "Death to the Arabs". In Jaffa, a mosque was vandalized, and another was torched in Tiberias. Israeli Police shot and killed twelve Arab rioters and a Palestinian. Sam Lehman-Wilzig, Political Communications Professor at Bar-Ilan University, said that rioting is rare and alien to Jewish political society. "The numbers (of riots) are so low because of our Jewish political culture which encourages protesting, but seriously discourages violent protest," he said. He argues that the riots were caused since Israelis felt threatened by the "pressure cooker syndrome" of fighting not just the Palestinians and Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas, but also the Israeli Arab population.

In 2008, a series of riots broke out in Acre, after an Arab motorist and his teenage son drove into a predominantly Jewish neighborhood during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish religion, to visit relatives. Their vehicle was pelted with stones, and they sought refuge in a relative's home. A Jewish mob chased them, then gathered around the building chanting "Death to the Arabs", and attacked police who tried to intervene. An incorrect rumor spread among the Arab residents that the driver had been killed, prompting calls from local mosques to avenge his death. Arabs rioted in the city center, smashing shop windows, vandalizing vehicles, and throwing rocks at people going to or from Yom Kippur prayers. Israeli Police forcibly dispersed them with tear gas and stun grenades. As soon as the Yom Kippur fast ended, about 200 Jewish residents rioted in Acre's Arab neighborhoods, torching apartment buildings and forcing dozens of families to flee. Riots and retaliations by both sides continued for four days. Haaretz editorialized that that year's "Yom Kippur will be infamous for the violent, racist outburst by Jews against Arabs within Israel".

During the course of monitoring elections in 2009, a Member of the Knesset (MK) replaced another Jewish election monitor at the Israeli-Arab town of Umm al-Fahm, who was prevented by police from entering the city because of threats by local Arabs on his life. As soon as the MK began to perform his duties, an Israeli-Arab mob rioted outside attacking the guards and shouts of “Death to the Jews!” could be heard. Israeli Police arrested five rioters.

Between Jewish groups

Some Jewish Israelis of European or German ancestry (Ashkenazi) are described as viewing themselves as superior to Sefardim, and of maintaining an elite position in Israel society, and some describe the attitudes of Ashkenazi as racist or racism.

Other authorities describe the discrimination by Ashkenazi as class-based, not race-based. For example, the differences between (Mizrahi) Sephardic Jews (N. Africans, Middle Easterners, Yemenites, etc.) are referred to as Adatiyut community-differences (resulting also in some traditional customary gaps).

Some sources claim that reports of inter-Jewish discrimination in Israel arise from propaganda published by Arab sources which ignores the normality and harmony between the communities.

Sephardi and Mizrahi (Middle Eastern)

File:Shas.JPG

Poster for Shas, a political party formed to represent the interests of religiously observant Mizrahi (Middle Eastern) Jews, featuring Eli Yishai.

See also: Mizrahi Jews

Israeli society in general – and Ashkenazi Jews in particular – have been described as holding discriminatory attitudes towards Jews of Middle Eastern and North African descent, knows as Mizrahi Jews, Sephardic Jews, and Oriental Jews. A variety of Mizrahi critics of Israeli policy have cited "past ill-treatment, including the maabarot, the squalid tent cities into which Mizrahim were placed upon arrival in Israel; the humiliation of Moroccan and other Mizrahi Jews when Israeli immigration authorities shaved their heads and sprayed their bodies with the pesticide DDT; the socialist elite's enforced secularization; the destruction of traditional family structure, and the reduced status of the patriarch by years of poverty and sporadic unemployment" as examples of mistreatment. In September 1997, Israeli Labor Party leader Ehud Barak made a high-profile apology to Oriental Jews in Netivot stating:

We must admit to ourselves [that] the inner fabric of communal life was torn. Indeed, sometimes the intimate fabric of family life was torn. Much suffering was inflicted on the immigrants and that suffering was etched in their hearts, as well as in the hearts of their children and grandchildren. There was no malice on the part of those bringing the immigrants here—on the contrary, there was much goodwill—but pain was inflicted nevertheless. In acknowledgement of this suffering and pain, and out of identification with the sufferers and their descendants, I hereby ask forgiveness in my own name and in the name of the historical Labor movement.

Barak's address also said that during the 1950s, Mizrahi immigrants were "made to feel that their own traditions were inferior to those of the dominant Ashkenazi [European-origin] Israelis [Alex Weingrod's paraphrase]." Several prominent Labor party figures, including Teddy Kollek and Shimon Peres, distanced themselves from the apology while agreeing that mistakes were made during the immigration period.

The cultural differences between Mizrahi and Ashkenazi Jews impacted the degree and rate of assimilation into Israeli society, and sometimes the divide between Eastern European and Middle Eastern Jews was quite sharp. Segregation, especially in the area of housing, limited integration possibilities over the years. Intermarriage between Ashkenazim and Mizrahim is increasingly common in Israel, and by the late 1990s 28% of all Israeli children had multi-ethnic parents (up from 14% in the 1950s). A 1983 research found that children of inter-ethnic marriages in Israel enjoyed improved socio-economic status.

Although social integration is constantly improving, disparities persist. A study conducted by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (ICBS), Mizrahi Jews are less likely to pursue academic studies than Ashkenazi Jews. Israeli-born Ashkenazi are up to twice more likely to study in a university than Israeli-born Mizrahim. Furthermore, the percentage of Mizrahim who seek a university education remains low compared to second-generation immigrant groups of Ashkenazi origin, such as Russians. According to a survey by the Adva Center, the average income of Ashkenazim was 36 percent higher than that of Mizrahim in 2004.

Some claim that the education system discriminates against Jewish minorities from North Africa and the Middle East, and one source suggests that "ethnic prejudice against Mizrahi Jews is a relatively general phenomenon, not limited to the schooling process".

There was a case in 2010, when a Haredi school system, where Sephardi and Mizrahi students were sometimes excluded or segregated. In 2010, the Israeli supreme court sent a strong message against discrimination in a case involving the Slonim Hassidic sect of the Ashkenazi, ruling that segregation between Ashkenazi and Sephardi students in a school is illegal. They argue that they seek "to maintain an equal level of religiosity, not from racism." Responding to the charges, the Slonim Haredim invited Sephardi girls to school, and added in a statement: “All along, we said it's not about race, but the High Court went out against our rabbis, and therefore we went to prison."

Yemenite children

See also: Yemenite Jews

In 1950s, 1,033 children of Yemenite immigrant families disappeared. In most instances, the parents claim that they were told their children were ill and required hospitalization. Upon later visiting the hospital, it is claimed that the parents were told that their children had died though no bodies were presented or graves which have later proven to be empty in many cases were shown to the parents. Those who believe the theory contend that the Israeli government as well as other organizations in Israel kidnapped the children and gave them for adoption. Secular Israeli Jews of European descent were accused of collaborating in the disappearance of babies of Yemeni Jews and anti religious motives and Anti-religious coercion were alleged, Some went further to accuse the Israeli authorities of conspiring to kidnap the Yemeni children due to "racist" motives.

In 2001 a seven-year public inquiry commission concluded that the accusations that Yemenite children were kidnapped are not true. The commission has unequivocally rejected claims of a plot to take children away from Yemenite immigrants. The report determined that documentation exists for 972 of the 1,033 missing children. Five additional missing babies were found to be alive. The commission was unable to discover what happened in another 56 cases. With regard to these unresolved 56 cases, the commission deemed it "possible" that the children were handed over for adoption following decisions made by individual local social workers, but not as part of an official policy.

Bene Israel (Indian)

In 1962, authorities in Israel have been accused by articles in the Indian press of racism in relation to Jews of Indian ancestry (called Bene Israel). In the case that caused the controversy, the Chief Rabbi of Israel ruled that before registering a marriage between Indian Jews and Jews not belonging to that community, the registering rabbi should investigate the lineage of the Indian applicant for possible non-Jewish descent, and in case of doubt, require the applicant to perform conversion or immersion. The alleged discrimination may actually be related to the fact that some religious authorities believe that the Bene Israel are not fully Jewish because of inter-marriage during their long separation.

In 1964 the government of Israel led by Levi Eshkol declared that it regards Bene Israel of India as Jews without exception, who are equal to other Jews in respect of all matters.

Beta Israel (Ethiopian)

Ethiopian Israeli soldier

Main article: Ethiopian Jews

Nearly all of the Ethiopian Beta Israel community, a community of Black Jews, resides in Israel. The Israeli government has mounted rescue operations, most notably during Operation Moses (1984) and Operation Solomon (1991), for their migration when civil war and famine threatened populations within Ethiopia. Today 81,000 Israelis were born in Ethiopia, while 38,500 or 32% of the community are native born Israelis.

The absorption of the Ethiopians into Israeli society marks a unique attempt to incorporate a nonwhite group as equal citizens with full rights as part of a Western predominantly white country. As such it represents an ambitious attempt to deny the significance of race Israeli authorities, aware of the situation of most African diaspora communities in other Western countries, hosted programs to avoid setting in patterns of discrimination. The Ethiopian Jewish community's internal challenges have been complicated by limited but real racist attitudes on the part of some elements of Israeli society and the official establishment. Nevertheless racism was commonly cited as explanation for policies and programs who failed to meet expectations. Racism was alleged regarding delays in admitting black Ethiopian Jews to Israel under the Law of return. The delays in admitting Ethiopians may be attributed to religious motivations rather than racism, since there was debate whether or not Falasha Jews' (Beta Israel) were Jewish.

Racism was also alleged in 2009, in a case where school children of Ethiopian ancestry were denied admission into three semi-private religious schools in the town of Petah Tikva. An Israeli government official criticised the Petah Tikva Municipality and the semi-private Haredi schools, saying "This concerns not only the three schools that have, for a long time, been deceiving the entire educational system. For years, racism has developed here undeterred". Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef threatened to fire any school principal from Shas's school system who refused to receive Ethiopian students. The Israeli Education Ministry decided to pull the funding from the Lamerhav, Da'at Mevinim and Darkei Noam schools, the three semi-private institutions that refused to accept the students. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke out against the rejection of Ethiopian children, calling it "a moral terror attack."

The ADL also states that Ethiopian Jews are not experiencing racism: "Whatever Israel's mistakes towards its Ethiopian Jewish community, the cause is not racism." It explains that "what causes the distress is bureaucratic ineptitude and a cultural gap between a traditional community and a modern, technologically-advanced, highly-competitive nation."

Depo Provera prescription controversy

In 2010, certain members of the feminist movement accused Israel of a "sterilization policy" aimed towards Ethiopian Jews, for allowing the presciption of contraceptive drugs like Depo-Provera to the community. They stated that the Israeli government deliberately gives to female Ethiopian Jews long-lasting contraceptive drugs like Depo-Provera to make them infertile, thereby, according to Racheli Mangoli who runs a youth center in her neighborhood, of forty-five Ethiopian families that live there only one Ethiopian baby has been born in the neighborhood. After some investigation made by Racheli Mongoli, she discovered that many Ethiopian women likely to avoid getting pregnant after they've immigrated to Israel. One of Israeli woman that had been using this contraceptive told she wasn't informed about its side effects and have been suffering pain over the period of using it. And like many Ethiopians in Israel she "was afraid she will be deported if questions authorities". Dr Factor one of doctors who's prescribing contraceptives to his patients explained this contraceptive and its side effects, by his words it's known for delaying fertility after a woman "come off it" but "in some cases" it can also "cause permanent infertility". As for side effects he said it might last for some years after you had stopped using it. Feminist activist Hedva Eyal had also tried to attract attention to this problem, and noted that Ethiopian Israelis who were given these drugs weren't warned about potential risks of these drugs. The health ministry admitted it issues the drug, but denied using it to reduce "the number of black babies in the country". Jewish agencies involved in immigration, said that Ethiopian women were offered different types of contraceptives and that "all of them participated voluntarily in family planning". Dr. Yee-fat Bitton, a member of the Israeli Anti-Discrimination Legal Center “Tmura” said: "The statistics are, that 60 percent of the women receiving this contraceptive, this controversial one, are Ethiopian Jews" and said that upon 2010 year, Ethiopians made up only 1 percent of population and "the gap here is just impossible to reconcile in any logical manner that would somehow resist the claims of racism". Professor Zvi Bentwich, an immunologist and human rights activist from Tel-Aviv, rejected the claim and said there's no ground "to suspect a certain negative official policy towards Ethiopian Jews". But when he was asked about official attitudes, official policy, official medical policy, he was "reluctant" to admit that there's "a policy of racism on that part". Israel also denied this claim.

Prof. Sadredin Moosavi of UMass Dartmouth criticized the allegations, and said that Depo Provera remains sanctioned by the World Health Organization. He said that the allegations were spread by The National, an Arab newspaper based in the United Arab Emirates which he claimed is biased against Israel. He added, "Why would a racist Israeli state go the effort to airlift Ethiopian Jews, clearly black and unable to stroll across the border without help, to Israel in the 1990's and only THEN attempt to exterminate them with Depo Provera?"

Black Hebrew Israelite immigration

Black Hebrew Israelites are groups of people mostly of Black African ancestry who believe they are descendants of the ancient Israelites. They are generally not accepted as Jews by the greater Jewish community. Many choose to self-identify as Hebrew Israelites or Black Hebrews rather than as Jews.

When the first Black Hebrews arrived in Israel in 1969, they claimed citizenship under the Law of Return, which gives eligible Jews immediate citizenship. The Israeli government ruled in 1973 that the group did not qualify for automatic citizenship, and the Black Hebrews were denied work permits and state benefits. The group responded by accusing the Israeli government of racist discrimination.

In 1981, a group of American civil rights activist led by Bayard Rustin investigated and concluded that racism was not the cause of Black Hebrews' situation. In 1990, Illinois legislators helped negotiate an agreement that resolved the Black Hebrews' legal status in Israel. Members of the group are permitted to work and have access to housing and social services. In 2003 the agreement was revised, and the Black Hebrews were granted permanent resident status.

In his 1992 essay "Blacks and Jews: The Uncivil War", historian Taylor Branch asserts that Jews have been "perpetrators of racial hate", citing the example where three thousand members of a sect of Black Jews from Chicago were denied citizenship under the Israeli law of return because, he claims, of anti-Black sentiment among Israeli Jews (according to mainstream Jewish religious authorities, members of the Black Hebrew Israelite group are not Jewish). However the claims that the Black Hebrew Israelites were denied citizenship because they were black seem baseless, particularly in light of Israel's airlift of thousands of black Ethiopian Jews in the early 1990s.

Efforts against racism and discrimination

Israel has a law that prohibits incitment to racism.

According to the State Department, Israel's anti-discrimination law "prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, marital status, or sexual orientation. The law also prohibits discrimination by both government and nongovernment entities on the basis of race, religion, political beliefs, and age."

Israel is a signatory of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination treaty since 1966, and has ratified the treaty in 1979. The treaty forbids any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.

The Anti Defamation League states: "There is no Israeli ideology, policy or plan to segregate, persecute or mistreat its Israeli Arab citizens, nor Palestinian Arabs," it goes on in saying that Israel is a democracy which encourages vibrant debate, which has a flourishing free press and which shares with other liberal democracies a core value: the equality of all its citizens before the law.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that "Arab Israelis are citizens of Israel with equal rights" and states that "The only legal distinction between Arab and Jewish citizens is not one of rights, but rather of civic duty. Since Israel's establishment, Arab citizens have been exempted from compulsory service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)."

Affirmative Action

In response to inequality between the Jewish and Arab populations, the Israeli government established a committee to consider, among other issues, policies of affirmative action for housing Arab citizens. According to Israel advocacy group, Stand With Us, the city of Jerusalem gives Arab residents free professional advice to assist with the housing permit process and structural regulations, advice which is not available to Jewish residents on the same terms.

Segregation and pluralism

A report written by the Israeli Foreign Ministry describes Israel as a multi-ethnic, multicultural, multi-religious, and multi-lingual society, which has has a high level of informal segregation patterns. The report states that groups are not separated by official policy, but that Israel has a number of different sectors within the society are somewhat segregated and maintain their strong cultural, religious, ideological, and/or ethnic identity. The report maintains that in spite of the existing social cleavages and economic disparities, the political systems and the courts represent strict legal and civic equality. The Israeli Foreign Ministry describes the country as "Not a melting pot society, but rather more of a mosaic made up of different population groups coexisting in the framework of a democratic state"

Reports addressing racism in Israel

• Amnesty International annual reports on Israel – 2010 report, 2009 report, 2008 report, 2007 report

• Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) annual reports – 2009 report, 2008 report, 2007 report

• United States Department of State annual Human Rights reports on Israel – 2009 report, 2008 report, 2007 report, 2006 report, 2005 report, 2004 report

• United Nations CERD – 2007 CERD report, unedited version of 2007 report

• Or Commission – The Official Summation of the Or Commission Report"

See also

• Racism in the Palestinian territories
• Human rights in Israel
• Israel and the apartheid analogy
• Neo-Nazism in Israel