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Eshet Chayil was developed by Joint-Israel in 1995 in order to provide culturally sensitive employment assistance to Ethiopian women in Israel. At first the program was focused on helping Ethiopian women, and throughout the years the program expanded to assist additional populations (e.g. Bukharan women, Ethiopian men as part of the ‘Avi Chayil’/’Family Chayil’ Program). Today, the program assists Ethiopian women, women immigrants from the Caucasus region, Jewish Israeli women from veteran immigrant populations and Arab women.
In 2010, the ‘Eshet Chayil’ program was integrated into the services offered by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services. Within the context of the Israeli housing protests in 2011 and the deliberations of the Trajtenberg Committee, it became clear that the employment rate among Arab women was significantly lower than the rate among Jewish women. It was decided that the government must provide a response to the specific needs of underprivileged Arab women in order to offer them the support and assistance they require on the path towards workforce integration. The Trajtenberg Committee identified the ‘Eshet Chayil’ program as capable of meeting this need and recommended expanding the program to additional Arab communities.
Further to these recommendations, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services announced a tender for the leadership, expansion and implementation of the program. Be-Atzmi won the tender and in August of 2013 began implementing the program nationally (it is important to note that until approximately 3 years ago, Be-Atzmi had been implementing the Eshet Chayil program for Ethiopian women). As of August 2013, the program included 16 groups of Arab women and 21 groups of Jewish women. Since then, as per the request of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services, Be-Atzmi has worked together with the Prime Minister’s Office and the Authority for the Economic Development of Arab, Druze and Circassian Sectors to expand the program. By the end of 2014, the program will have grown from 16 groups of Arab women to 49 groups of Arab women, and the program will assist approximately 1,200 Arab women annually.
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