Historic Economic Development Plan for Arab Sector | Mar 30
Historic Economic Development Plan for Arab Sector | Mar 30
Mar 30, 2016 12:00pm
On December 30th 2015, the Israeli government approved a groundbreaking, five-year economic development plan for the Arab sector, aimed at tackling major gaps between Jews and Arabs in the Israeli society. This comprehensive plan calls for allocations of NIS 10-15 billion for the development of Arab communities in various fields such as education, transportation, welfare services , employment and housing.
A yearlong deliberations between the Ministry of Finance, the Authority for Economic Development of the Arab Sector and Arab leadership brought to fruition a comprehensive plan, unprecedented both in scope and in the system-wide change to government allocation mechanisms, ensuring that Arab citizens will be budgeted in accordance to their 20% share in society.
Amir Levi, Director of the Budgets Department at the Ministry of Finance, played a key role in the spearheading and drafting of the Plan. He spoke to a Task Force audience about why the Ministry of Finance considers this Plan crucial for Israel’s economic sustainability, its key features as well as main fields of investment.
