Rivka Bar-Yosef
AN ISRAELI ON ISRAEL
Edith
KUTZWeil:
I want to welcome you and to introduce my friend and
guest, Rivka Bar-Yosef. She hardly needs an introduction. However, to those
of you who do not know her, she is one of the most distinguished Israeli
sociologists, has been on many delegations ofthe Labor government, and for
years was the representative to the International Labor Organization. She
has written widely on Israeli social problems, labor relations, and women's
issues.
Rivka BaT-Yosef
I have doubts about what I can tell you, because so many
Americans think they know everything about Israel, more than the Israelis,
and then offer quick solutions to
all
our problems. But because you asked me
to talk about how I feel about Israeli society, I decided to break down the
major problems into secondary ones. In other words, I shall try to
"disaggregate" them, as the economists would say.
Undoubtedly, Israel now is in turbulence but not just because of the
Intifada, so I won't talk much about it. The turmoil is due to problems that
existed from the very beginning of the State ofIsrael. Everything
was
new.
Then, the problems were ignored. Israelis thought that things would arrange
themselves, that with time solutions somehow would develop. But in certain
areas
this
hasn't happened, although some things are resolving themselves.
Take, for example, what is called the ethnic conflict, which only a few
years ago was thought to be the gap between Sephardim and non–
Sephardim. This conflict has not disappeared, but it's smoothing out. The
Sephardim have a high rate of mobility, and many of them have entered
politics.
If
you look at the Knesset, you probably cannot recognize them, but
among the outstanding Knesset members, not the back-benchers, there are
Iraquis, Moroccans, Tunisians: some of the very well-to-do and very newly
well-to-do are Sephardim. So while there still is poverty among them, and a
higher rate of school drop-outs, etcetera, there is also a high rate of
intermarriage. This is a problem that is resolving itself, while others now are
boiling. Until recently, public opinion was not organized, but now groups and
protest movements are organized - which is both positive and dangerous.
People are fed up with
all
kinds of things; they are clamoring for change, but
because public movements are unable to provide rapid changes, it's easy to
propose
all
sorts ofmiracle cures. People get caught up in slogans which may
be
dangerous. Since some problems are not amenable to quick solutions, there
is a danger that demagogues will influence these popular movements, ask for
cosmetic solutions that, when you examine them, would turn out badly.
Politicians, however, are afraid that in elections they have have to respond to
Editor's Note: This discussion took place on June 6,1990, in New York City.
