Mada's Research Papers

summary:
Mada al-Carmel – The Arab Center for Applied Social Research, recently published a study entitled "Growing Dependency and Decreasing Space: Budget and Jurisdiction in Arab and Jewish Local Authorities in Israel", which compares the conditions of Arab local authorities to Jewish ones.

This study is designed to contribute to the description and explanation of the status quo regarding the Arab local authorities in the State of Israel, by comparing it to that of the Jewish local authorities. This comparison is based upon essential facts which have a tremendous impact on the daily lives of each community's residents. The study was based on a comparison done on 25 Arab local authorities and 25 Jewish local authorities in 2001, utilizing data provided by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Specifically, the study focused on the distribution and allocation of financial resources (government funding); areas of jurisdiction; and water consumption. The resulting picture reflects the miserable conditions of the Arab local authorities in the State of Israel.

The study is 140 pages long, and is composed of four chapters. The first chapter – General Background – provides the historical context for the establishment of Arab local authorities, and addresses the differences in government allocation of resources to Arab and Jewish local authorities. The second chapter presents the similarities and differences in the structures and the sizes in local authorities' budgets, and extensively analyzes the composition of both the regular and irregular budgets of local authorities, the government's portion of the budget and that part raised by the local authority. According to data utilized in the study, the differences between the budgets of Arab and Jewish local authorities are obvious. These differences are apparent in both the size and structure of the budgets, as well as in income and expenses. The data indicated small changes in the government's portion of Arab local authorities' budgets, which gave the illusion of improvement. However these changes came "too little and too late", and do not compensate for past inequality. This slight improvement is apparent in the regular part of the budget, which includes funds transferred to local authorities, funds to cover the expenses of basic services, and a large part of government functions which are funded by the local authorities.

By contrast, no such improvement appears in development budgets, or in budgets earmarked for specific purposes. Such special budgets can significantly contribute to improving the situation of local authorities, enhancing infrastructure, and making far-reaching changes in various towns, i.e., in renovations and construction. In other words, the alleged equality in the budgets is insufficient, and positive action is urgently needed.

The third chapter focuses on local authorities' areas of jurisdiction. The historical background for mapping the local authorities' areas of jurisdiction, and Israeli policies and definitions of area of jurisdiction are provided. A comparison is made between the areas of jurisdiction of Arab and Jewish local authorities, for the years 1985-1995, the last year for which data is available; the different zoning designations and uses of the land (i.e., areas designated for construction, for open spaces and for industrial purposes); and ends with a summary of the changes made during that decade.

We can infer from the data presented in the study, that the State of Israel refuses to make any changes in the issue of control over the land. Nevertheless, slight positive changes in some of the Arab local authorities have occurred. However, these changes are mainly local ones, attributable to local agreements and solutions. These local initiatives are not indicative of any radical changes in the State's policies towards its Arab citizens, or in the State's willingness to compensate for what was taken from them. The study also concludes that a superficial comparison of the available data could result in overlooking some of the important facts relating to the relationship between land and residence. These facts are significant in the analysis and interpretation of the numerical data, and in placing the data in the appropriate context. Thus, to clarify these issues, the study suggests that accessing data is essential. The necessary data concerns the intrastate migration of Arab and Jewish residents of the country; changes made in zoning restrictions, allocating land for different purposes and uses in the local authorities' areas of jurisdictions; and to the control the district authorities have over the majority of State land.

The fourth chapter examines the existing difference in water consumption between Arab and Jewish local authorities. Compared were the quantities of water consumption in these authorities, and the purposes to which the water is allocated (civil, agricultural, industrial or other) is discussed; such data provides us a great deal of evidence about living standards and well-being of the residents.

The book concludes with a chapter on the conclusions drawn, and analysis of the conditions of the Arab local authorities compared to Jewish ones in the State. The book also makes several recommendations to improve the local authorities' situation.

The random sample of this study shows clear differences in the way the government institutions treat Arab local authorities compared to that of Jewish local authorities. The book concludes by examining the changes which have occurred in the way the State of Israel deals with the Arab local authorities. These changes occurred in the local authorities' budgets (which saw some improvement – though temporary and conditional – in the State's treatment of the Arab local authorities from the mid-1990s until the beginning of the third millennium); and in the issues of land, land use and areas of jurisdiction. The State's policies concerning land use and areas of jurisdiction has not changed, despite the importance of developing space, residential areas, etc. The changes that have occurred in the last few years stem primarily from income raised locally by local authorities. Increasing the areas of local authorities' jurisdiction is an important factor in economic development. This importance stems not only from increased revenue from local taxes on industrial areas which accrue to the local authorities, but the impact of such development on the local economy in general.

Moreover, a difference or even a gap can be discerned from the data regarding the state's treatment of the Arab community itself, meaning that the Israeli authorities has a differential standard for dealing with Arab local authorities, especially regarding funding and budgets. The data shows that the State has different standards for each Arab local authority (although these standards all conform to general policies). For many years, the dominant factor in such policies has been the preference for Jewish local Authorities over Arab authorities in all kinds of fields, such as areas of jurisdiction, budgets and government support.

Available in Arabic